Ishan Kishan was out in the wilderness after he was stripped of his India central contract in February 2024 for making himself unavailable for domestic cricket. He has since resurfaced, and refashioned himself as the poster boy for the domestic grind in India.
After carrying Jharkhand to their maiden 20-overs Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title in 2025-26, with a chart-topping 517 runs in ten innings at a strike rate of nearly 200, Kishan elbowed his way back into India's white-ball squads. He has not played a Test match for more than three years, but has been pushing his red-ball case with runs in the recent Ranji Trophy and bigger runs in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2026-27.
With India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar in attendance at Chepauk on Monday, Kishan proved his red-ball chops with 250 off 301 balls for East Zone in Chennai's unforgiving heat, before retiring. He returned to rousing applause from around 1000 fans, and converted it to 270 off 334 balls, propelling East to 708 against South Zone.
Rishabh Pant continues to do Rishabh Pant things in Test cricket, while Dhruv Jurel, who is now playing as a specialist batter, is the back-up wicketkeeper in the side. But with the India A programme set to resume in earnest - they are scheduled to play two four-dayers against Australia A in Puducherry, and three more four-dayers in New Zealand over the next three months - Kishan's second first-class double-hundred couldn't have come at a better time.
Not too long ago, Kishan was criticised for not showing enough desire to play red-ball domestic cricket in particular. But he has since gone through the grind, travelling the length and breadth of India to play various formats of multi-day cricket, including the Buchi Babu tournament in the districts of Tamil Nadu.
"Who better than me can judge about [domestic] hunger right now," was Kishan's response on the eve of the Duleep final when he was asked about his East team-mate Mohammed Shami's commitment to domestic cricket. South captain Tilak Varma even marvelled at Kishan's comeback story via the domestic route, and said it had motivated other players as well to turn up for domestic cricket.
Tilak, though, must now be sick of the sight of Kishan after the latter spent almost nine hours at the crease, giving South the runaround for two days.
Though South's attack lacked penetration, the variable bounce that the Chepauk surface threw up on the second day tested Kishan. On the first day, the bounce was much truer, allowing Kishan to pull or hook MD Nidheesh and CV Milind without much trouble. On Monday, when Nidheesh dug a short ball into the deck, it kept low and skidded through to smack Kishan in the box.
Kishan crumpled to the floor like the proverbial sack of spuds. After a few minutes, he was back up on his feet and resumed his shift with a deft steer past wide slip. Nothing fazed him. When Mohammed Siraj briefly tightened up on day two, after leaking 96 runs in 14 overs on the first, Kishan blocked him resolutely. Then, when Siraj engaged in some chatter, Kishan remained unruffled.
When Shreyas Gopal dangled a legbreak up on the stumps, Kishan took a trip down the track, met the pitch of the ball, and clubbed it over wide long-on, leaving a set of photographers ducking for cover. Rookie offspinner T Vijay attacked Kishan's pads with as many as seven fielders on the leg side, but Kishan opened up the off side by manufacturing swinging room, holding his shape, and pumping him either side of mid-off.
In the post-lunch session, Kishan galloped to his double-hundred off 270 balls with a rasping slashed four off Devdutt Padikkal's part-time spin. He first raised his bat to the East dressing room, and then towards a section of fans in the E Lower stand, including one who was holding up Kishan's India blue jersey and waving it vigorously for the cameras.
South found temporary respite when Kishan retired on 250, and a more permanent one when he holed out at the stroke of stumps on day two.
Kishan, though, isn't done just yet. After the close of play, he said he was hungrier to score more runs, and even quipped that he might not enforce the follow-on if he for the option to do so.