Ahmedabad: Former India opener Virender Sehwag lauded India batsman Ishan Kishan, who played a debut innings to remember against England on March 14. Kishan smashed 56 runs in 32 balls and was declared the Player of the Match.
Since his memorable debut, Kishan has won praise from several formers as well as active cricketers, who are in awe of the left-handed batsman’s carefree approach and his fearless striking of the ball. Sehwag said that the 21-year-old batted so fearlessly that it looked as if he was playing in an IPL match.
“One thing I liked about Kishan is that he didn’t think he was playing international cricket maybe he was thinking he is still playing in the IPL. The way he played his shots, it’s the same way he played in the IPL because he faces similar bowlers in the IPL as well. In international cricket, on debut players get nervous, but Ishan Kishan didn’t seem like that at all, that was a good thing,” Sehwag was quoted as saying to Cricbuzz.
Sehwag also went on to say that a performance like that from a top-order batsman takes the pressure off everyone else in the team. “Everything went well for India. Ishant Kishan’s innings released pressure off from everyone else, because if the top order score runs, then it helps the lower order batsmen. It was a brilliant innings for Kishan,” he added.
The swashbuckling left-hander carried on from where he left in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 edition for the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians (MI). He amassed 516 runs and helped Mumbai Indians to its fifth trophy.
The 22-year-old, who replaced Shikhar Dhawan also became the second India batsman after Ajinkya Rahane to score a fifty on a T20I debut. Skipper Kohli finished things off with an unbeaten 73-run knock to chase down the target of 165. As India cruised to a seven-wicket win in the second T20I against England in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
