MS Dhoni has had the maximum impact on me, states Ishan Kishan

If Adam Gilchrist revolutionised the job of a wicket-keeper, MS Dhoni dazzled it and definitely made the cult proud with his out-of-the-world theatrics behind the stumps. Jos Buttler recently spoke highly of Dhoni as his idol and many keepers in India, including Rishabh Pant, openly admitted the same. Ishan Kishan became the latest joinee in admitting the impact that the former Indian skipper had on him in his growth as a cricketer.

“Always Mahendra Singh Dhoni has had the maximum influence on me. Because the way he carries himself, how to learn the drills from him, even in batting, when I scored 800 runs in one season, he was the one I spoke to,” Kishan said on Cricbuzz’s Spicy Pitch. 

“I told him how I always get the starts but not being able to convert them into big ones. He had told me that ‘see you are an attacking batsman but when you play multi-day matches, you need to know when to pause and when you start again.’ These small things that matter in your batting, I have learnt a lot from him,” he further added.

A player who loves to play his shots, Kishan once led the side to a colossal 485 runs in a practice game against Canada U-19 side. Ever since he has been a part of the Mumbai Indians set-up, his cult has risen few notches, with the franchise entrusting him with more responsibility ahead of veteran Aditya Tare. Ishan revealed that he likes to play big shots since he was a kid and never really liked to leave the ball or defend it.

“From my childhood, I just loved to play shots. Never really liked to leave the ball or defend it. Always loved to attack and liked the sound the ball made off the bat. I never got ruffled by the bowler's height or pace. For me, it was always about where the bowler was going to land it, and how I would tackle that,” the wicket-keeper added.