“He taught him how to play fearless cricket” – Coach Uttam Mazumdar highlights Rohit Sharma’s role in Ishan Kishan’s progress


“He taught him how to play fearless cricket” – Coach Uttam Mazumdar highlights Rohit Sharma’s role in Ishan Kishan’s progress

Ishan Kishan had a debut to remember as he came up with a spectacular knock to lead India to victory in the second T20I against England. His half-century which came in quick time at that earned him the Man of the Match award. The match marked a promising youngster’s arrival to the national scene and given the talent on display, it looks like Kishan has a bright future in the Indian cricket team.

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Ishan Kishan dedicated his Man of the Match award to his coach Uttam Mazumdar‘s father who passed away recently highlighting his role in his career. Now, coach Uttam has spoken about Kishan and narrated as to how he reacted to his debut and his knock as well as the impact that Rohit Sharma had on his development.

Uttam Mazumdar speaks on Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan

Uttam Mazumdar spoke to The Times of India about Rohit Sharma’s role in Ishan Kishan’s career saying, “Ishan has got a lot of confidence from Rohit. He has played a lot of cricket under Rohit’s captaincy. Ishan has learned the art of playing fearlessly from Rohit. Rohit is his mentor and captain at Mumbai Indians. In the last IPL, Rohit gave him the opportunity to open the innings in the UAE. Rohit asked him to open alongside him. Rohit taught Ishan how to play fearless cricket. Ishan is fortunate to have a captain like Rohit.”

He then spoke of how Ishan reacted to his debut. “Ishan called me ahead of the match and said Virat bhai came and said you are making your debut today. He said ‘sir, I am so happy’. He was very emotional at that moment. After handing the debut cap, Virat asked him to address the team. I wanted to keep him grounded. I just said, everyone makes a debut but there are very few who make their debuts unforgettable,” Mazumdar said.

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Talking of his reaction after the match and dedicating the innings to Mazumdar’s father, “I was waiting for his call. He called me at 1 am. He was really happy. The first thing he said was – ‘Sir, I did it’. It was a huge tribute to my father. He was very close to my father. “Ishan always loved my father. My father always blessed him. In 2019, Ishan came to my place after a domestic match and sat with my father. My father predicted that Ishan will play for India in 2021. And his words came true. That was a huge blessing,” Mazumdar signed off.

The third T20I takes place today at 7 PM IST.

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