How Ishan Kishan Overcame Setbacks to Revive His Career

NEW DELHI: Ishan Kishan is currently living his dream, making the most of every opportunity that has come his way. After patiently waiting for his moment, he seized it with confidence, delivering standout performances and reaping the rewards of his hard work.

Kishan played a key role in India’s triumph at the 2026 T20 World Cup, earning two Player of the Match awards, and has now been entrusted with the captaincy of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28.

In a video shared by the franchise, Kishan expressed his excitement about taking on the leadership role.

“I’m very overwhelmed and happy to have this opportunity to lead the team,” he said. “I want to keep things simple. In the IPL, all players are highly skilled—you just need to ensure they stay on the right track.”

He also emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong mindset throughout the season. “It’s important that players don’t lose confidence after a few games. We’ll grow together as a team, and there will be a lot to learn this season. One thing I’ve understood over the years is that being in the right headspace is crucial for any cricketer,” Kishan added.

“So, mostly this season, we will make sure we just stay in the present, we just keep it simple and do as much hard work as we can before the match starts. But in the match, we are just going to enjoy the game and take one match at a time,” he added.

Ishan had a stellar 2026 T20 World Cup, scoring 317 runs at an average of 35.22, with a strike rate of over 193.”It was, I feel, the best few days of my life because, you know, joining the team suddenly and winning the World Cup with the team, so it was one of the best moments. Because, you know, there was a lot of hard work going on.

Players were, a few of them were not in form, but when the time was there, when it was needed the most, everyone played the best possible cricket. And we just tried to play the best role in the team, and I think we all achieved greatness with that this season,” he said.Ishan also spoke about the power of manifestation, saying he always believed he would make a big comeback.

“When I was not in the team, there was no–I mean, how do I explain it? There was always this feeling that I would make it to the team anyhow, because I knew that the amount of hard work I would do would be the most important thing. And you know, you always need to believe in yourself,” he said.

It was the domestic grind that helped Ishan build his path to the biggest prize in T20I cricket, as he led Jharkhand to its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) title last year, topping the charts with 517 runs in 10 innings, including two centuries and two fifties.”This will be a message to I feel so many guys, whoever is losing track or whoever is not believing in themselves, and they should know that they are supposed to believe and just keep on working hard. Things will change,” he signed off.