How a contract-less Ishan Kishan went from being a forgotten man to India’s T20 World Cup saviour

Before India announced its T20 World Cup 2026 squad, Ishan Kishan was not seen as a certainty. But just a month later, the pocket-sized swashbuckling left-hander from Jharkhand is being hailed as a national hero after playing a crucial role in India's T20 World Cup 2026 triumph.

With 300-plus runs at the top, Kishan not only redefined himself but also laid the platform for others to come at a time when his opening partner, Abhishek Sharma, went through a lean patch during the course of the tournament.

Kishan first came into the limelight during the U19 World Cup 2016 when he led the Indian team to the final. It was the same batch that saw the emergence of current stars Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar. For the next four years, Kishan toiled hard in domestic cricket and also in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Gujarat Lions and the Mumbai Indians.

Kishan's breakthrough year came in the 2020 IPL, when the left-hander accumulated 516 runs in 14 matches - most for the Mumbai Indians in that season. He also won the award for hitting the most sixes in that season, thus paving his way into the Indian national team the next year.

A ‘break’ that nobody 'understood'

What followed was a ₹15.25 crore pay cheque from the Mumbai Indians, a brilliant 210 against Bangladesh in an ODI, and a couple of good seasons in IPL before a fallout with the BCCI. Following the ODI World Cup 2023 loss, Kishan withdrew from India's South African tour for personal reasons.

At a time when the BCCI made it compulsory for all centrally contracted players to play domestic cricket, Kishan went on to train with his then Mumbai Indians captain, Hardik Pandya, in Baroda. In fact, Kishan himself made himself unavailable for the England Tests in 2024, something that he described as a "break", thus prompting the BCCI to exclude him from the central contracts in 2024.

"I was scoring runs, and then I found myself on the bench. But I experienced travel fatigue. It meant there was something wrong; I was not feeling well or right, and so I decided to take a break. However, sadly, barring my family and few close people no one understood that," Kishan had told The Indian Express in 2024.

Bhagavad Gita inspires Ishan Kishan's comeback

During his time outside the Indian team, leaning towards spirituality helped Kishan. According to his father, Pranav, Kishan keeps a Bhagvad Gita in his box and carries it with him. The result was imminent. The southpaw grew mature, his batting matured, and he became more responsible. Kishan's road to redemption came in 2024 with a century in the Buchi Babu tournament.

He worked in silence back home, toiling hard on the field with no cameras to document that. Along with his coaches and Pandya's mental support, Kishan prepared himself to be where he belonged. The following year, Kishan smashed his maiden IPL hundred for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

That was followed by a leading-from-the-front show in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) for Jharkhand. Not only did he finish as the tournament's top run-getter with 517 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 197.44, but Kishan also led Jharkhand to their maiden SMAT title with a blistering 49-ball hundred in the summit clash.

The India comeback

Kishan made a comeback to the Indian team after two years, during the New Zealand series and the T20 World Cup 2026. 

With scores of 8, 76, 28 and 103, Kishan roared his way into the Indian playing XI in the T20 World Cup on his own merit. He didn't disappoint. With Abhishek Sharma falling for a duck, his innings of 77 against Pakistan in a high-stakes encounter was a testament to how Kishan performed in crunch situations.

In fact, after Kishan's innings of 38 against England in the semifinal and 54 in the final, he became a constant presence in the Indian batting order, playing the supporting role alongside Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav. Not just his batting, Kishan was electric on the field too.

Having given his keeping gloves to Samson, Kishan gave an account of being a gun fielder, including two sensational catches in the final against New Zealand. For Kishan, the T20 World Cup 2026 triumph also came with an emotional layer. The wicketkeeper batter also revealed that he lost his cousin sister in a car accident just a day before the final.

Catch the live action of the T20 World Cup 2026 with the complete T20 World Cup 2026 Schedule and   World Cup 2026 Points Table. Also, know who is currently leading the charts for Most Runs in T20 World Cup 2026 and Most Wickets in T20 World Cup 2026.