[ad_1]
India vs Bangladesh: When the Indian team reached Delhi for the T20 International match against South Africa in June this year, cricket coach Uttam Majumdar’s phone rang and he was requested to reach ITC Maurya Hotel. On the other end of the phone call was his favorite disciple Ishan Kishan. Mazumdar, who runs his cricket academy in Greater Noida, said, ‘‘Ishaan wanted me to come to the hotel every day. When he was not part of the practice session in the field, he was preparing to face the short-pitched deliveries of bowlers like Enrich Norkia and Kagiso Rabada. He wanted to keep his head in the right position so that there was no problem on the bouncer balls. ’’
The coach said, ‘‘It was my birthday on December 7 and Ishaan’s innings seemed like my own child had given me a birthday present.’’ Recalling the past, Mazumdar said, ‘‘Ishaan is just 24 years old and when his father Pranav Pandey took Ishaan to the Bihar Cricket Academy in Patna, he was just six years old. Ishaan has been with me for the last 18 years.’’
Majumdar said, ‘‘ Not many people know that when Bihar’s Ranji team was banned, I was also in their list of potential players. During this time Mahendra Singh Dhoni and I lived in the same room.’’ He said, ‘‘ When Ishaan came for training, his stature was so small that I had to bowl to him with my hands down. But by giving him a cover drive, I had told his father that he would not represent India if he had bad luck.’’
The coach is very impressed with the sixes hit during Ishaan’s double century innings. He said, ‘‘You must have seen the 10 sixes that came out of his bat today. You must have guessed how powerfully he shoots despite his small stature. He faces five to six hundred balls on the net, out of which he tries power hitting on 200 balls. ’’
Majumdar told that when Ishaan started representing Jharkhand, even Dhoni recognized his talent.
[ad_2]
Source link