India opener Ishan Kishan had a memorable debut match against England on Sunday (March 14) at the Narendra Modi Stadium. He was hitting the ball cleanly and the debutant played a crucial knock in India's 7-wicket win in the second T20I match.
Kishan scored 56 (32) while chasing 165 in 20 overs and funnily he wasn't sure about his half-century until captain Virat Kohli praised him. Talking about the knock with Yuzvendra Chahal on 'Chahal TV', he said Kohli told him to acknowledge the crowd after his fifty before calling it a 'top knock'.
The 22-year-old, who hit 5 fours and 4 sixes in his innings, said he barely raises his bat after reaching fifty.
"No, I wasn’t nervous, to be honest. To be honest, I did not realize that I had reached my fifty. Then Virat Bhai said ‘top innings’ then I understood that I’d completed my half-century. Usually, I’m not inclined towards raising my bat after a fifty, I barely raise my bat for celebration after half a ton,” Kishan said in the video posted on bcci.tv.
Chahal joked "Attitude dekh rahe ho [Did you all see his attitude?” after Ishan said he wasn't raising his bat for the half-century.
The youngster was quick to move around and accept the applause of the crowd after Kohli told him to. “But then suddenly I hear Virat Bhai say ‘oye chaaro taraf ghum ke bat dikha [raise your bat facing each part of the crowd]’. That’s what I moved around facing each part of the stadium while raising my bat,” he said.
Kishan was included in the playing XI of the second T20I in the place of senior batsman Shikhar Dhawan. The innings in his debut match has ensured we will see the Jharkhand batsman opening in the rest of the matches as well.
(With bcci.tv Inputs)
