Follow UsThey say dreams take you across the seas. While it is true for most Indians whose ultimate destination is overseas lands in search of greener pastures, the reverse happened for Mumbai cricketer Ishan Mulchandani. While his father, in search of his dream, went to Singapore, where Ishan was born and raised till he was seven, cricket brought him back home to Mumbai, where he now sees his future.
Sitting in the comforts of his home after a training session with his team, the South Bombay (SoBo) Mumbai Falcons, for the T20 Mumbai 2025, Ishan, who smashed 1500 runs in the 2024-25 season of Mumbai’s club cricket and got a chance to feature in Mumbai’s probable squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, tells cricket.com in an exclusive interview, how his cricketing journey began, first in Singapore then in Mumbai.
“I remember we had a house in Singapore, and my dad, since his family was here in India, used to go on frequent visits (to India) and one of those times he brought a cricket bat along with him. I started playing with it, and then I played with my dad and my sister in the driveway,” he said of his earliest memory of playing cricket.
“My school over there used to have cricket coaching, so on Saturday morning I would play the game for a few hours. I used to play football and go swimming as well. Then when we moved to India then I started playing tennis and cricket,” added the now 25-year-old.
However, when Ishan came to India, cricket was not his only choice of sport as he played tennis too.
“Once I turned 12 and started getting picked for interschool tournaments and was named in the Mumbai U-16 probables at the age of 15, then cricket became constant and tennis took a back seat,” Ishan explained.
Ishan, who used to bowl early on in his career, has now completely shifted to wicketkeeping while opening the batting, trying to emulate his cricketing idol Rahul Dravid.
“My idol was Rahul Dravid, a pure teamman and a humble guy. A very hard-working guy with a lot of respect for the game, so he was my ideal. From Mumbai, I like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer too,” revealed the man who is coming to the T20 Mumbai League, having smashed two fifties and a 60-ball 146 in the Talim Shield in April 2025.
With several players getting picked for their performances in state leagues, like Digvesh Rathi and Priyansh Arya from the Delhi Premier League and Vipraj Nigam from UP T20, Ishan is hopeful that the Mumbai T20 League will turn fruitful for him.
“It's amazing to have this platform and very grateful to MCA for having brought this league back after a long break. I am just trying to enjoy the moment and my primary goal is to help the team win any way I can. And as a result of that, if some doors open up in the future, I will be forever grateful for that,’ said the right-handed batter.
So what if Ishan does get picked in the IPL, which team will he prefer to go to?
“I would say RCB and Rajasthan Royals. RCB because of Virat Kohli. He is someone I have looked up to growing up. The way he has changed his career. I mean the discipline, the hunger that he has is really inspiring,” he said.
“And RR because I like them as a proper batting side. They have Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag and Jaiswal,” added the man who plays for Parsee Gymkhana.
Having broken through into the SMAT probables already for the senior Mumbai team, Ishan says that he is not thinking about selections, but is preparing himself in a way that he grabs any chance he gets with both hands.
“Honestly speaking, I don’t really think about that. I am just preparing well so that if I am given a chance to play at the highest level, then I am prepared well as opposed to keeping on thinking about will I get the chance, will I not get the chance and stuff like that.”
“I am more focused on preparing well so that when I get the chance to play for Mumbai, I grab it with both hands,” he said.
With that the question comes to mind, what does he do to remain so calm about his future prospects at such a young age? Answering that, the Singapore-born wicketkeeper said, “I believe in meditation, staying grounded and humble all the time. I keep telling myself to strive for consistency in my training, be it in the gym or on the cricket ground.”
And on a parting note, Ishan clarified that he would not play for his country of birth, even a few years down the line, if there was an opportunity. “If you get a chance in the future, will you play for Singapore?’ was the question, to which Ishan replied, “No, I wouldn’t.”