Ishan Kishan reached his hundred in 86 balls on the back of nine sixes. (PTI)
Turning up for Jharkhand in their opening round of the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament, India wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan smashed a blistering hundred against Madhya Pradesh in Thirunelveli on Friday.
Leading the Jharkhand Cricket Association side in the fixture, Kishan walked out to bat at number six on the second day after Madhya Pradesh were bundled out for 225. While the left-hander was watchful initially, Kishan raced to his half-century in only 61 balls before teeing off.
Kishan recorded nine sixes in the space of 39 balls and brought up his century in only 86 deliveries on the back of consecutive maximums as Jharkhand overhauled Madhya Pradesh’s first-innings total. He eventually holed out on 114 off 107 balls, an innings laced with five fours and 10 sixes.
Ishan Kishan hits a century in his comeback match! Well done Skip! pic.twitter.com/aRBnCZgRsI
— kryptonite✨ (@ish_mania) August 16, 2024
Kishan, who was part of the national side across all formats, opted for a break towards the end of the 2023 season after experiencing travel fatigue. The 26-year-old soon found himself out of favour in the national set-up and also missed out on a spot for the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
In February, Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were snubbed from the BCCI central contracts after the duo were deemed to have skipped domestic red-ball matches. Kishan returned to competitive cricket with the Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024 season, scoring 320 runs in 14 games with a solitary half-century.
“I was scoring runs and then I found myself on the bench. These things do happen in a team sport. But I experienced travel fatigue. It meant there was something wrong, I was not feeling well or right and so I decided to take a break. However, sadly, barring my family and few close people no one understood that,” Kishan told The Indian Express in an exclusive interview as he explained his decision to take a break from the national set-up.
Kishan last featured for India in a T20I in November 2023. He last played in a Test match against West Indies in July last year. Earlier this week, Kishan was also named as the wicket-keeper in the India D squad that will be led by Iyer in the Duleep Trophy starting next month.
