Ishan Kishan put on a show with the bat in India’s dominant seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second T20I at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, Raipur on Friday (January 23).

Batting at No. 3, the southpaw slammed 76 off 32 balls with 11 fours and 4 sixes. He stitched a 122-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who remained unbeaten on 82 off 37 balls to take India over the finishing line with 28 deliveries to spare in the chase of 209.

After the match, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh said that the way Kishan batted, it did not seem like the hosts were struggling at 6/2 during the chase.

Harbhajan went on to add that no one understood what the left-hander went through to become a match-winner like this.

Notably, Kishan produced a match-winning knock in his second outing on international comeback after being sidelined from the national team for two years.

“Ishan Kishan said, ‘I am here’. The way he batted, it didn’t seem like the team was under pressure at all. He isn’t a player who goes for singles or doubles; he just went flat out," Harbhajan said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

“He (Ishan) has recently scored a lot of runs for Jharkhand. When he was dropped from the team two years ago, everyone was saying what is mental health and that he is doing all of this, but no one understood what he was feeling," Harbhajan added.

Ishan Kishan earned a surprise T20I call-up on the back of stunning exploits for Jharkhand in the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, finishing the tournament as the leading run-getter while also leading the state to a maiden title.

“The way he has played his cricket, winning the trophy for Jharkhand and now playing in that same fashion. It is a huge thing to make a comeback to international cricket in such a way," Harbhajan remarked.

With this victory in Raipur, India gained a 2-0 lead in the five-match series against New Zealand. The third T20I will be played in Guwahati on Sunday (January 25).