“It’s (IPL) a very big tournament and you do not want to overstep. I am just taking one game at a time and however I can help the team, (my motto is) let’s do it.”
“I was practising only [during the break]. When you take a break, people gossip about it a lot, they say a lot of things on social media,” Kishan said after the match. “But I feel it’s important to understand not everything is in players’ hands. We can only make the best use of the break. This is what adopting a good mindset is.”
However, Kishan did not want to see his performance as a tool to prove a point to his detractors.
“There is nothing like that (that) I want to prove to someone. I just have to go there and enjoy. I have learned that you do not have to add pressure on yourself about these things which are not in your hand. You have to figure out what are (your) controllables and what are (your) uncontrollables.
“If I were the old Ishan Kishan, I might not have left the good deliveries in the first two overs. I would have been in pressure. But with time I have learned that even 20 overs are a lot and you can take your time. You can have the belief and move forward. So all these things helped me in that gap also. Now we lost some games here, but I feel most of the players, not just me, were keen to work with everyone. It was never about us individually performing well for the team and not knowing what other players were going through. So I also know if someone is not doing well, how they feel.
“So these things also changed in me that even when I am not performing, if I know someone isn’t feel good, let’s talk to them, let’s know what their mindset is. So these things have happened after that break.”
Hardik ‘loves challenges’, fans ‘will start loving him’
“He (Pandya) loves challenges, he has been in this situation before and he is in that situation right now,” Kishan said.” He is not someone who will come out and talk about it and say let’s stop this or that. I know that he must be enjoying it. I know him personally. I have spent a lot of time with him. He is ready for the challenges because you cannot complain to the fans, they will come up with their explanations and their point of views.”
Kishan said Hardik could turn all anger around with his performances.
“But knowing how Hardik Pandya thinks, he is happy with people doing it but I know that in the coming games he will do it with the bat and people will start loving him (again). People also recognise your hard work, what you are going through and still you are doing so well for your team. I think people do recognise that.”
“Our fans will be a little harsh on you but at the same time when you do well, or when you show that it is (still) not bothering you and (that) you are in a very good headspace, that might change. If not today, tomorrow. If not tomorrow, day after tomorrow.”