Ishan Kishan roared back to form with a magnificent 89 after struggling in the West Indies T20I series as India thrashed Sri Lanka in the first match in Lucknow.
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Ishan Kishan had struggled in the three-match T20I series against the West Indies in Kolkata. The left-hander had hit 71 runs in the three matches, averaging just 23 but with a poor strike rate of 85. Coming on the back of his record buy in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction where he was purchased by Mumbai Indians for Rs 15.25 crores, the pressure was on him. But, Ishan Kishan showed a different dimension to his batting in the T20I against Sri Lanka in Lucknow. He hammered his highest individual score of 89, which included 10 fours and three sixes as India won by 62 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Speaking after the end of the match, Ishan Kishan revealed what had gone wrong for him in the series against the West Indies. “I got to learn a lot from the West Indies series. My intent wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t positive enough. I was just trying to keep it simple here – watch the ball and play my shots. I enjoy playing that shot. It’s a positive thing for the batting unit as well because you need to hit gaps preparing for the world cup in Australia. I was talking to Shreyas about the mid-wicket region. He said if you middle the ball you could get a boundary. If you hit the gaps you can get two. And it went my way,” Ishan Kishan said.
Read – Ishan Kishan Gets Sold For Rs 15.25 Crore to Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 Mega Auction
India’s batting put up a power-packed performance, with Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer all putting up a great show. Iyer notched up his fifty off just 25 balls but Ishan Kishan was unlucky to miss out on a century. Venkatesh Iyer and Bhuvneshwar Kumar then took two wickets apiece to give India a commanding win.
Rohit Sharma was impressed with the performance of the whole side but he singled out Ishan Kishan for praise. “I know Ishan for a long time now and the mindset he has. I know the ability he has as well. It was just about getting the kind of game that he had today. It was so pleasing to watch from the other end. The way he constructed the innings was so good, that is usually a challenge for him. We were talking in the middle about finding gaps,” Rohit Sharma said.
India will now play the remaining two Twenty20 International matches in Dharamshala on March 26 and 27.
