Ishans Growth Attributed to Leaving MI, says Rayudu
Ambati Rayudu believes that Ishan Kishan's development as a player has been aided by his departure from the elite Mumbai Indians (MI). Before Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) purchased him at the 2025 auction, Kishan, who is now enjoying his greatest IPL season, spent seven years with MI.
Rayudu, who played for MI from 2009 to 2017, claims it was simpler for him because he didn't care about being famous. "But for someone like Kishan," Rayudu stated on ESPNcricinfo Time Out,” growing up in a franchise like Mumbai, he wants to be a superstar - he is a superstar in his own right now - but to compete against all the stars around him back then would have been very, very tough.”
When it comes to their game, those guys know when to step up and when to step back. However, many of these young males are unable to switch on and off. That's a significant issue, and I have no doubt that he has learned it the hard way."
As of right now, Kishan is ranked fifth on the IPL 2026 Orange Cap list. He has 569 runs at an average of 40.64 and a strike rate of 178.36 in 14 games thus far. His sixth 50-plus score of the season came on Friday when he scored 79 off 46 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, earning him Player-of-the-Match. He had never had more than three of these scores in an IPL season before this.
" His choice of shots has significantly improved," Rayudu remarked. "We have witnessed him make several poor shot selection choices in his early years. However, we witnessed him making the correct decision the majority of the time.
Our Take
We believe he learned a lot about his own game while serving as Jharkhand's captain. He is one of those batsmen who has significantly improved in terms of clarity after being appointed captain.