There is no stopping Ishan Kishan, and the left-handed batter continues to go from strength to strength. The Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper-batter has taken his good form from the T20 World Cup to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season and is playing one good knock after another. On Saturday, the 27-year-old smacked 74 runs off just 31 balls, including 11 fours and 3 sixes, to help the Sunrisers chase the total of 229 with five wickets in hand and nine balls to spare. Ishan is right there in the leading run-scorers list in the 19th edition of the T20 tournament, registering 312 runs in eight matches.
Not to forget, Ishan was also the second-highest run-scorer for India in the victorious T20 World Cup campaign, where he smashed 317 runs. However, the wicketkeeper-batter believes that his best is yet to come, and the world has not seen it all as far as his heroics and talent are concerned.
After being adjudged as Player of the Match, Ishan was asked if he felt that this was the best he had batted in his career. However, the Sunrisers wicketkeeper shut down this question by replying a firm ‘no’.
“No, I think my best is yet to come,” said Kishan when asked if this is the best he has been batting in his career.
“You have to be in good headspace. It’s about just watching the ball and not being predetermined about what shots we have to play. So I was just thinking, let’s watch the ball. It’s a big ground. I’ll get some more gaps, big gaps. I think bigger ground means you’ll always get big gaps. So, when the ball is not there, maybe you can push it in the gap, and you keep the run-rate going. So that was the job, and I think it was a pretty good wicket. Not much thinking to do, just bat, just bat and just enjoy,” he added.
In the chase against the Rajasthan Royals, Ishan shared a 132-run stand off just 55 balls with Abhishek Sharma, where the latter also scored 57 off 29 balls. By the time the duo were dismissed, the job had been done, and eventually, the Sunrisers chased the total down in the 19th over.
“I think we were pretty calm and the most important thing when you’re chasing a total like 228 is you need a good powerplay first of all. And having Head and Abhishek as an opener, they make the job pretty easy for the rest of the batsmen, even if they bat for four overs. So I was just batting with them, communicating with Abhishek,” said Kishan.
“He was well aware of the game, what’s happening, what run-rate is going on. So I was just playing my shots and we both, I think, did a great partnership in the middle, which helped our team,” he added.
Pat Cummins return
The match against the Rajasthan Royals also marked the return of Pat Cummins as the SRH skipper. In the absence of the pacer, Kishan led the franchise to four wins in seven matches. However, the wicketkeeper-batter was more than happy to pass the baton to Cummins once he regained full fitness.
“It was quite fun, leading the side for seven games and, Pat coming in, giving us that extra bowling power. So I was very happy when he came to the team, because he’s a tremendous captain. So I was just thinking about my batting and wicketkeeping more than leadership,” said Kishan.
With the win over RR, SRH jumped to the third spot in the points table, and they will next take on the Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, April 29, at the Wankhede Stadium.