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Cricket PlayersIshan Kishan's cheeky jibe at Abhishek Sharma leaves both players in stitches: ‘Tera ek mahina form gaya tha’
Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma both stand as examples of persistence bearing fruit, in very different ways – and the good friends saw the funny side of it.
India’s T20 World Cup victory in Ahmedabad signed off with a match that asserted their dominance and their growing stature as the team to beat in the shortest format of the game. A crushing 96-run victory over New Zealand after the batting piled on 255/5 in the first innings was the final note in this script – but in the bigger picture, there was a lot more behind all of the small stories that constituted India’s presence at this stage.
Ishan Kishan, back in from the cold right on the eve of the tournament thanks to his spectacular domestic form, was one of the many golden stories of perseverance and belief that defined India’s players at this campaign. Sanju Samson, who won player of the tournament, was in the same boat – and on a smaller scale, as was the final member of India’s tripartite top order, as Abhishek Sharma saved his best innings of what had otherwise been a miserable World Cup for the very end.
After Abhishek hammered 52(21) and Kishan scored 54(25) in the Narendra Modi Stadium to set up India’s win, it was all smiles – but there was no denying that the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making it happen made it all the sweeter. The two good friends and teammates even shared a light moment as they compared their respective journeys to get to this point.
WATCH: Kishan and Abhishek share a laugh
During a media interaction following the final, the pair were asked to talk about how they were able to bounce back from their struggles at different times and perform for India in this manner. Abhishek began to answer, but earned a smart rebuke from Kishan as he pointed out the difference in their situations.
“I think I can give a better answer for this question right now,” started Abhishek – only to be interrupted by Kishan, who nudged in by cheekily saying “Mein bhi de sakta hoon (I can also give it.)”
“Tera ek mahina form gaya tha, mein do saal bahar raha hoon (You were out of form for one month, I was out of the team for two years),” added the wicketkeeper-batter, sharing a laugh with his fellow southpaw, leaving both in stitches.
“That one month felt like one and a half years to me,” added Abhishek, indicating that losing touch in the World Cup also left him feeling just as frustrated and short on answers.
Abhishek had an extremely quiet World Cup leading up to the finals, including a sequence of ducks and low scores that forced many to ask whether he should be dropped entirely. He was persisted with given his upside, and that upside made a difference – he scored a 18-ball half-century as India plundered 92 in the powerplay alone.
Equally Kishan, who hadn’t played for India in over two years before his reintroduction, had a marvellous tournament – his statement knock was the one-man effort against Pakistan, and finished as one of the highest run-getters in the tournament with 317 runs in all.
