SRH atmosphere different from what I expected: Ishan Kishan

New Delhi, Apr 17: Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who is playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2025 season after representing the Mumbai Indians for seven years, is mesmerised with his experience with the orange army. The southpaw revealed that the calmness in the side was beyond his expectations.

Kishan was acquired by the franchise for Rs 11.25 crore in last year's mega auction in Jeddah. The batter was quick to repay the faith put in him by the franchise as he scored his maiden IPL century in their tournament opener against Rajasthan Royals. He played a knock of an unbeaten 106 in 47 balls studded with six sixes and 11 fours as SRH posted the second-highest total of the tournament – 286/6, one short of their previous best.

"When I got here, I got those goosebumps suddenly looking at everything orange here in Hyderabad because I was with the Mumbai Indians for the last seven years. But this is a very new experience. Looking forward to it. And at the same time, looking at how Sunrisers Hyderabad is playing right now and the atmosphere I saw in the team is totally different from what I expected. There is a lot of calmness. There is a lot of clarity among everyone. Everyone is very helpful here. So I'm loving it till now," Kishan said on JioHotstar’s special show ‘Gen Bold’.

Reflecting on the franchise's fearless brand of cricket, the wicketkeeper said, "Fearless cricket is not just about going out there and hitting every ball. It starts when your captain believes in that kind of approach for the team. I feel all the other team members are right behind him (Pat Cummins), ready to play the same way he wants us to. When your captain brings that kind of clarity to the team, it becomes easy to play fearless cricket. We just play the way we’re used to – and we’ll go in with that same approach."

When asked whether Sunrisers Hyderabad can score 300 runs in an IPL game, Kishan replied in optimism. "When you're chasing, you have a target in mind. But when you're batting first, you just play the ball. And then you decide where you can go after the first six overs and how good you are on that wicket. So I don't want to be very particular with the score. But let's see. If we get a good start, then why not?"

The 26-year-old picked teammate Abhishek Sharma as a Gen Bold player who goes all out in attack while batting. "Abhishek Sharma is a Generation Bold player. Because as soon as he goes on the pitch, he starts hitting, and we get the pressure that we also have to hit every ball now; we can't even defend a couple of balls. So I'll call him a ‘Gen Bold’ player," Kishan said.

On who he considers a "Generation Gold" cricketer and his all-time favourites, Kishan added, "When it comes to Generation Gold, I'll say Yuvraj Singh is a Generation Gold player. And talking about my favourite players, it was always a mixture of a bunch of players. So when I was 18, it was Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Sachin Sir. Right now, my favourite is Virat Kohli. I'd like to learn all his shots. Maybe I can play a cover drive like him."