Ishan Kishan had a forgettable outing in his first match after returning to the national team following a gap of two and a half years. But on Friday, he showed why the selectors backed him. With a stunning knock of 76 off just 32 balls, Kishan guided India to victory and rewrote several records along the way.
The task, however, was far from easy. India was in trouble early, losing two wickets with only six runs on the board. From that difficult position, Kishan steadied the innings with Suryakumar Yadav. The duo counter-attacked with confidence, shifted the momentum, and helped India recover before Kishan took charge to finish the game in style.
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As per reports of ESPN, before Kishan could walk back, Suryakumar gave him a big hug. Yadav shares, "I have never seen anyone bat [like that] after 6 for 2," he said at the post-match presentation.
He added, "Batting that way, ending the powerplay around 67, 70 [75], it was incredible. This is what we want from our batters - go out there, express themselves, be happy in their own space."
Ishan spoke about this after the match. What did he say?
Despite the pressure to score runs, Ishan did not lose confidence. He knew how important it was to play a big innings for himself and the team. Ishan said he was motivated by that thought and achieved success.
Ishan Kishan said, "I felt very good in the middle. I was able to connect from ball one, so I just backed myself. I had the feeling that if I just played good shots, I would make it happen for the team."
He also added, "Sometimes you know you are batting well - it's just that you have to be in a good headspace, try to watch the ball and play good shots. We were just looking not to take any risk, not to go cross-batted. But yeah, I was looking to score as many runs as we could in the powerplay because when you are chasing 208 [209], you have to get runs in the powerplay."
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Which records did Ishan set?
Ishan completed his half-century in 21 balls in the second match. As a result, he broke Abhishek Sharma's record. Abhishek had scored a fifty in 22 balls in his first T20. That was the fastest half-century by an Indian against the Kiwis in the T20 format. Ishan surpassed Abhishek to reach the top of that list.
Ishan played a total of 23 balls in the powerplay in this match. He scored 58 runs off those 23 balls. As a result, he set a precedent. Ishan became the first Indian to score a half-century in the powerplay while batting at number three or lower in the batting order. Not only that, this is the second-highest score by an Indian in the powerplay. Earlier, Abhishek Sharma had scored 58 runs off 21 balls in a match against England.
