Ishan Kishan was a man on a mission on Sunday, as he proved his critics wrong with a sensational unbeaten ton for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Facing Rajasthan Royals in their season opener, Ishan Kishan hammered an unbeaten knock of 106 runs off 47 balls at a strike rate of 225.53, packed with 11 fours and six sixes. Ishan Kishan’s knock became the 12th fastest hundred in IPL history, as he reached the landmark in 45 balls. It also became SRH’s third-fastest ton in history.
Before IPL 2025, Ishan Kishan had been experiencing a downfall in his status as India’s future opener. In IPL 2024, he could only manage 320 runs in 14 matches and it was a season to forget for the wicketkeeper-batter. Around this time last year, Ishan Kishan was also removed from the central contract list after he didn’t give time to the Ranji Trophy.
Ishan Kishan’s downfall and rhetorical comeback in IPL 2025
Ishan Kishan was released by MI ahead of IPL 2025 (Indian Premier League 2025) mega-auction after playing seven seasons for them. Hence, things continued to go downhill for the wicketkeeper batter, who had lost his BCCI central contract earlier in the year. Unlike other MI cricketers who practice at the franchise’s ground in Ghansoli, Ishan Kishan opened a cricket academy with his hard-earned money, in Patna. His own creation came to his rescue, as he began to train in the academy.
However, he continued to toil hard in domestic cricket, having slammed centuries in the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament, Duleep Trophy, Ranji Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He has even got his IPL 2025 off to a rollicking start by slamming a 45-ball century on his debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals.
Former India cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Bangar feels Ishan Kishan was overshadowed during his time at Mumbai Indians (MI) and has got the much-needed freedom in Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Sanjay Bangar analyses the change in Ishan Kishan’s batting technique
Recently, Sanjay Bangar spoke about Ishan Kishan’s sensational century and mentioned that the youngster has got all of his doubts cleared from the past. Bangar also mentioned he was under the shadows of the big stars in Mumbai but has got the space at Hyderabad.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar thinks wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan was possibly overshadowed by other players Mumbai Indians (MI). Kishan was released by his previous Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise ahead of last year’s mega auction.
Bangar felt that Kishan’s move to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) may have helped him clear doubts in his mind. He admitted that he was impressed by his approach in his side’s opening IPL 2025 game.
“When he was playing for MI, he was probably overshadowed a little bit by the likes of the other luminaries in the team, maybe a Rohit or a Sky or Hardik and Jasprit,” Bangar said on JioHotstar
“Ishan has been doing really well when he was left out of the squad and he was out of favour for some amount of time. But what I liked about his approach was that, he seems to have cleared all the doubts that were there in his mind earlier times,” he added.
Bangar believes that Kishan will have the freedom and space at SRH that he didn’t have in Mumbai. He opined that playing for the 2016 IPL champions presents him with a “huge opportunity” to make his mark.
“But here he is, he can be his own man and he has the space. Because, if you look at that particular team, the kind of characters that are there, maybe Abhishek, and Travis Head and Klaasen. So it’s a huge opportunity, he has taken it really well, fabulous knock,” Bangar concluded.
Coming out to bat at number three on Sunday, March 23, in his side’s tournament opener against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kishan smashed an unbeaten 47-ball 106. This was his maiden IPL hundred, which propelled SRH to a score of 286 for six in 20 overs.
Reflecting on his batting exploits after the match, the southpaw complimented the environment in the SRH group. He said that head coach Daniel Vettori and captain Pat Cummins had kept things simple, and there was no pressure if a batter got out cheaply while trying to hit the ball.
Ishan Kishan was brought by the franchise for Rs 15.25 crore at the mega auction in November 2024. After his innings on Sunday, he revealed calling Abhishek Sharma to enquire if he needed to hit each and every ball at SRH. SRH next take on Lucknow Super Giants in their second match of the tournament in Hyderabad on Thursday, March 27.