Ishan Kishan’s return to the Indian set-up reads like a carefully scripted comeback: hard work, domestic leadership and clean hitting that forced selectors’ hands. After captaining Jharkhand to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title — an effort that underlined his temperament and form — Kishan earned a World Cup recall and has justified it with immediate impact: 76, 28 and a maiden T20I hundred (103) in recent appearances.
Yet even as Kishan’s bat rediscovers its menace, he admits one bowler still gives him sleepless nights: Jasprit Bumrah. The 27-year-old’s praise for India’s pace ace comes with a revealing dressing-room anecdote that captures just how relentless Bumrah is, even in nets.
“Among spinners, I find Yuzi bhai [Yuzvendra Chahal] tough to play; I think he’s figured me out,” Ishan Kishan said on the 2 Sloggers podcast. “In pace, I mean, no one is better than Bumrah bhai.”
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He then laughed and added the story that many team-mates will recognise: during practice on grassy wickets, bowlers often ease up — but not Bumrah. “If a batter middles the ball, you know he’ll bowl a barrage of bouncers later,” Ishan Kishan explained. He even joked that Bumrah “may feel upset” at him for telling the tale, but the point was clear: excellence in the Indian camp is unforgiving and exacting.
Kishan’s SRH stint and domestic renaissance have sharpened his tools. Bought for INR 11.25 crore in the 2025 IPL auction, he hit a century early for Sunrisers and finished that season with 354 runs at a waist-high strike rate. Those performances, coupled with his Syed Mushtaq Ali final century, forced selectors to reinstate him at the top level.
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The net-story about Bumrah is telling because it highlights a wider truth: training standards in India’s ecosystems are elite. For Kishan, the tough love of facing world-class teammates like Bumrah and Chahal is part of the reason he’s back among international match-winners. If Kishan keeps matching those nets with performances on the pitch, opponents will have more to worry about than one hard-hitting left-hander — they’ll face a player tempered by pressure, peer scrutiny and proven firepower.
