Ahmedabad, March 9 (IANS) India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has dedicated his side’s 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup victory to his late cousin sister, revealing that she and his brother-in-law died in a car accident a day before the final took place at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

In the final, Kishan hit 54 and was one of the architects in India getting a 96-run win over New Zealand to clinch their third T20 World Cup title. “To be honest, before the game, I lost my cousin sister in a car accident. I played well for her. I spoke to Hardik Bhai; he said to put the team ahead. I dedicate this win to her, and this was on Women’s Day, so it makes it all the more special,” Kishan told reporters in the mixed zone interaction.

Kishan had battled his way back into the national side after being out of the team for nearly two years and now saw himself finishing as India’s second-highest run-scorer in the tournament behind Sanju Samson. While reflecting on his journey back into the team, Kishan cited Virat Kohli’s example as a guiding principle for himself.

“In these two years, the biggest thing I learned was to just keep doing your job; don’t think about the results. The skills don’t change much. If I scored a 200 before, the skills were there then and they are there now. But what matters is your approach. How much hunger do you have?

“If you remove the fear of failure and doubt, you only focus on staying in the present. In these two years I have learned one thing: I have stopped overthinking. I don’t even think about where my name will come up, whether it will come up or not. I think it’s not in my hands, and if I think about these things and then look at the team and see my name isn’t there, it will just hurt me.

“So in a way, I take a step back. Like I said, I like Virat bhai a lot, seeing how he has put his energy into the game for so many years. That work was the most important thing for me to understand – what can I change within myself? Because the ability is there,” he elaborated.

Kishan also recalled the moment captain Suryakumar Yadav reached out before the T20 World Cup squad was announced. “When Surya bhai called, I took a screenshot and thought it was for the World Cup. He called and asked, ‘WC jeetwayega kya (Will you make us win the World Cup?’. I asked, ‘Aap bharosa karoge kya (Will you show trust in me)?’ and then said, ‘Karoonga (I will do it(.’ He said chal kiya (okay, done).”

Kishan’s redemption arc from being out of the national setup in 2023 to leading Jharkhand to a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win in 2025 and forcing his way back into the national side in blistering form culminated in him playing all matches in the showpiece event and lifting the trophy.

He signed off by saying the World Cup triumph means a lot to him and his family. “I just went in with the thought that even if I get out on zero, we just have to win the World Cup. It means a lot to me. More than myself, I would say my family members are much more relaxed now. As sportsmen, we go through phases.

“We know how to take care of ourselves, as we know the reality, the ability we have and how we can change things. But at the same time, the ones who get troubled are the family members. So for their happiness, perhaps we work harder so that we can try to make it back into the team as soon as possible. At the end of the day, keeping them happy becomes everything for us.”

–IANS

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