At the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi, Team India, captained by Shikhar Dhawan, chased down 209 to tie the current three-match ODI series against South Africa. Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer each contributed innings of 113* and 93, respectively, as India won by seven wickets with 25 balls remaining. For the fourth wicket, Shreyas and Kishan put up a 161-run partnership, which was the foundation for India’s triumph. In the end, the hosts’ Shreyas (113) and Sanju Samson (30) both won without losing. Ishan Kishan commented about the victory and his mindset during the post-game news conference after the second ODI.
“We always try to learn. Whenever we do feel, we can brush aside our mistakes but with the standard of cricket we are playing, we have to learn a lot. On the days we play well, we analyse our mistakes and try to find out how we can get better. I missed my hundred, but 93 was also good in terms of contributing to the team. You feel bad when you miss a hundred, but next time when I am in a similar situation, I will try to not miss the hundred,” said Kishan. “When it comes to rotating the strike, some players have their strength as rotating the strike. Some players have strength in hitting big shots. Not many people can hit sixes like me, I can do that easily. Hitting sixes is my strength, when I can go about doing my job through big shots, I do not think about rotating the strike then. There would be times when I would be required to rotate the strike, so practice for that is also paramount. But if the ball is there, and my strength is hitting six, so I should not force myself to rotate the strike,” he added.
Kishan, who narrowly missed scoring his first ODI century by seven runs, was out trying to knock yet another six. The southpaw, however, asserted that he would pursue the ball if it was available because runs for the team were more significant than personal bests. “Rotation is important in today’s cricket. The thought does come to your mind that ‘I’m seven runs from a hundred and I should get there through singles’. But I have never played my cricket like that. If the ball is there, I go after it. I never go into that zone where I am thinking just about my runs. If I am playing for India, and I am thinking about my runs, then I am letting the fans down.”
When asked about his thoughts on missing the T20 World Cup squad, Kishan said: “Obviously you feel bad when you are not part of the squad for a big tournament, if you make your team there, it is a proud feeling. But I think there would be some areas where I would be lacking and the selectors and coaches would have spotted those. I also feel improvement can be done and I know I can get a lot better.” “I know this is my best performance, I can do better. There are a lot of players in our main team who are in good form. I will wait for my time, and it is about me having that self-belief whenever I get that opportunity,” he added.
