Ahmedabad: Explosive India batter Ishan Kishan stated the strong bond among players including the likes of star opener Abhishek Sharma helped the team overcome internal competition and focus on collective success as the defending champions retained the ICC Men's T20 World Cup title at the Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Sunday.
Speaking alongside fellow opener Abhishek Sharma, Kishan emphasised that while competition for places exists in a talent-rich Indian side, the atmosphere in the dressing room encouraged players to support each other rather than see teammates as rivals.
“First of all, thank you very much. You have given us a very big gift,” Kishan said while speaking to reporters after the triumph.
“Especially at this point in time when there is a lot of bad news in the world and whenever you read the newspaper you hear the same news again and again. So thank you so much. March 8, 2026 will be remembered for many years.”
When asked about the competition for the opening slots in the Indian team, Kishan admitted that the challenge of performing better than others existed earlier in his career but said his focus remained on improving his own game.
“To be very honest, this used to happen earlier. I will not deny it. There was competition but when I was playing domestic cricket the most important thing for me was to plan how I can be better and how I can perform better than others,” Kishan said.
“Without any disrespect, I just focused on my performance. At the same time, when you see players like Abhishek, he has a very good nature. Even if he was not in a good phase of the tournament he was always looking forward to helping everyone.”
Kishan highlighted Sharma’s willingness to share ideas and help teammates even during challenging phases.
“Whatever batsman is batting, if he gets a point he shares it. That also shows the nature of a person. With that kind of person you cannot think of him as a competitor,” he said.
“At the same time, I feel the more Abhishek scores the better it is for the team. When he scores runs it benefits the entire India team. Rather than just looking for our own success, it should always be the team’s victory.”
Abhishek echoed Kishan’s sentiments, saying the environment within the Indian squad promoted brotherhood rather than rivalry despite the intense competition for places.
“When we were playing together at Sunrisers Hyderabad, I think there was more brotherhood than competition,” Sharma said.
“I never felt that if he scored runs I did not score runs. Especially when you are playing a tournament like this, if India is on the winning side then it does not matter.”
