My ears were numb: Ishan Kishan reveals his first meeting with legend Sachin Tendulkar

India wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan cannot forget the moment when he first met legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, someone who he worshipped as a child. Revealing his first meeting with the master, Ishan said that he couldn’t even listen to Sachin’s words because his ears were just buzzing with excitement and nervousness. 

“The most exciting moment was when I saw Sachin Paaji. It was the first practice game for me when I was selected for Mumbai Indians and he came to oversee the session and I was batting with Rohit Sharma,” Ishan said in an interview with Cricbuzz. 

“I asked Rohit [Bhaiya] how to talk to a godly figure like Sachin and he said just relax and talk to him. Eventually, Sachin came to me when I was sitting alone. We had a great chat, only that my ears were numb and I don’t remember any word of that chat and afterwards I tried to copy his style of talking [laughs],” he added. 

Asked about why he chose to be a wicket-keeper the Patna born blamed it on a chance intervention by luck as the reason. “In a game, I was asked to keep as our designated wicketkeeper didn’t turn up. Since I was a good fielder so they thought I would be good with the gloves as well. I took two catches and did a stumping as well. I started enjoying and thus began the journey,” said Ishan. 

Ishan has always mentioned his love for Jharkhand and India legend MS Dhoni and thus, there was no doubt on who his idol was. “Always MS Dhoni because I learn a lot from him and the way he carries himself. That one year when I scored around 800 runs in First Class, Dhoni had given me a lot of tips,’ said the 22-year-old, who also represents Jharkhand, the state that MS Dhoni played for. 

Talking about a meeting with Dhoni and how the former India captain helped him, Ishan said, “I asked him that ‘Bhaiya, I get the start but am not able to convert it’, so he replied, ‘No doubt you are an attacking batter but in days’ game, switching on and switching off is a process which you would have to understand.’ and that sort of helped me a lot.”

Once the captain of the India Under-19 team under the coaching of Rahul Dravid, Kishan would be vying for a place in the senior ODI team of India under the same coach in Sri Lanka. The Mumbai Indians star batsman had something to say about Dravid as well. 

“Rahul sir is a legend, I used to enjoy a lot being with him during the U-19 days. He has a unique style of addressing players, he would always say, ‘Boss, what are you doing?’. He always told us how to read the game and how to take it forward instead of forcing us to make any changes in the technique,” said Ishan, who has so far represented India in two T20Is.