'It is not in my hands' - Kishan not thinking about T20 World Cup selection

Having returned to competitive cricket after a break for personal reasons, Ishan Kishan is not thinking about his spot in India's T20 World Cup squad.

Kishan, who last played for India in November, had asked for a break during the South Africa tour in December-January. He returned to action in February during the DY Patil T20 Cup. Currently, he is the leading run-scorer for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 with a tally of 161 at a strike rate of 182.95.

"About the World Cup, it is not in my hands and I am taking things very easy right now," he said on Thursday, after starring with a 34-ball 69 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru to help Mumbai win by seven wickets. "You have to take one match at a time. One needs to understand that a lot is not in the hands of the players.

"It [the IPL] is a long big tournament and you do not want to overstep. I am just taking one game at a time and [my motto is] however I can help the team, let's do it.

Talking about his time away from the game, Kishan said: "I was practising [during the break]. When you take a break, people gossip about it a lot, they say a lot of things on social media. 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."

Kishan, along with Shreyas Iyer, was not considered for the BCCI central contract for the period between October 2023 and September 2024. However, Kishan is not thinking about proving a point to anyone.

"There is nothing like that [that] I want to prove to someone," he said. "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 [against RCB]. 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 break 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 feeling good, let's talk to them, let's know what their mindset is. So these things have happened after that break."

Hardik Pandya might have been at the receiving end of fans' ire in this IPL, but Kishan has little doubt that the Mumbai captain is "enjoying the challenge" of winning them over.

Hardik, who replaced Rohit Sharma as captain before the start of this IPL, has been consistently getting booed by the fans and the situation was no different on Thursday night at the Wankhede.

"He [Hardik] 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 view."

Kishan said Hardik could turn around fans' anger with his performances.

"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.

"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 good headspace, that might change. If not today, tomorrow. If not tomorrow, the day after tomorrow."