Young Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has said that he sometimes marvels at the cricketing acumen of former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, adding that he “often tries to read” the veteran player’s mind to improve his own skills.
The 23-year-old Ishan was bought back by Mumbai Indians for a whopping INR 15.25 crore during the Mega Auction, making him the most expensive player of IPL 2022.
“More than keeping, I keep trying to figure out how his mind works. You won’t believe… in one of the IPL games, it really stressed me out the most. I was playing well and hitting the bowlers. But then Dhoni Bhai walked up to the bowler and said something. I couldn’t hear what but he said something to Imran (Tahir) Bhai,” Ishan, narrating an incident, said.
“And in my mind, I’m wondering what Dhoni Bhai has told him. I don’t know what happened but there was a half-volley ball, which I drove but got out caught at the short-third man. To date, I haven’t figured out how a batter trying to drive a spinner gets caught at third man,” Ishan said on the ‘Breakfast with Champions’ show.
The left-hand batter also recalled a valuable wicket-keeping tip given by Dhoni.
“So from what we’ve observed about keeping, our hands are usually straight but when there is an edge, it moves to the right. But he (Dhoni) taught me that hand movement should be only this much. That should be all the movement. Not just the wrist. It should go like this (like a semi-pendulum). Once this becomes a habit, you’ll be able to catch even the thick edges,” added Ishan.
