Gearing up for the T20 World Cup, Ishan Kishan stole the show in India's warm-up fixture against South Africa on Wednesday in Navi Mumbai. The wicketkeeper-batter smacked 53 off 20 balls and retired out to give his teammates a chance with the bat. Kishan struck at 265.00, smacking two fours and seven sixes.
Speaking after the match, Kishan said, "I was really excited for Wednesday. I wanted to open the innings. Batting at number three, I enjoyed that situation, but with the World Cup coming up, no matter what position I bat in, my focus is always on doing my best for the team. I think it’s about staying in the present, watching the ball and playing the shots that are required at that point in time. I’m not putting too much thought or effort into it. I’m just reacting, watching the ball, and playing accordingly, and that seems to be working well for me."
Also Read: ‘We were terrible in 2021 and still won’: Pat Cummins backs Australia for T20 World Cup glory despite pull-out
"Some days you feel really good, some days you don’t. On this particular day, I also have to give credit to the pitch; it was tremendous to bat on, even in the second innings. I trusted the wicket and the bounce. With the World Cup so close, it’s important to be in the mindset that if the ball is there, even if there’s a fielder, you back yourself and go for it. He’s very important to us. He’s not just a batsman anymore; he gives us a few overs, especially when two left-handers are batting. He’s a very good fielder, and the way he’s batting these days, you need someone at number three who can rotate the strike and keep things moving (talking about Tilak Varma).
{{/usCountry}}"Some days you feel really good, some days you don’t. On this particular day, I also have to give credit to the pitch; it was tremendous to bat on, even in the second innings. I trusted the wicket and the bounce. With the World Cup so close, it’s important to be in the mindset that if the ball is there, even if there’s a fielder, you back yourself and go for it. He’s very important to us. He’s not just a batsman anymore; he gives us a few overs, especially when two left-handers are batting. He’s a very good fielder, and the way he’s batting these days, you need someone at number three who can rotate the strike and keep things moving (talking about Tilak Varma).
{{/usCountry}}"There’s always room for improvement. We’ll talk about areas we can bowl to batters and how we can plan better. But on this wicket, I think we did a pretty good job. It wasn’t easy, and we didn’t give away too many sixes. Overall, it was a solid bowling effort, though we’ll sit down and discuss how we can improve further", he further added.
Defending a target of 241 runs, India restricted South Africa to 210/7 in 20 overs. Tristan Stubbs smacked an unbeaten knock of 45* runs off 21 balls. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan's half-century (53 runs off 20 balls) saw India post 240/6 in 20 overs.