Ishan Kishan was one of the stars in India’s series-leveling seven-wicket victory over South Africa in the second ODI in Ranchi on Sunday (October 9).
Chasing 279 to win, the hosts were in a spot of bother at 48/2 and it was then Kishan stepped up to the plate. Batting at No. 3, the southpaw added 161 runs for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer to put India on the brink of victory.
While Kishan missed his century by 7 runs, his innings of 84-ball 93 turned out to be a match-winning one as Iyer completed the formalities with an unbeaten 113 off 111 balls.
Ishan Kishan’s knock was studded with 4 fours and 7 sixes. After the game, the left-hander said there is no need to rotate strike when one can "hit sixes effortlessly" like he does.
"Some players have the strength to rotate the strike, my strength is to hit sixes. I hit sixes effortlessly and not many can do that. If I do the job by hitting sixes, there's no need to think about rotating the strike much," Kishan said at the post-match media interaction.
"If your strength is hitting sixes then go for it, what's the need of rotating the strike just for the sake of it. But yes there will be time when rotating the strike would be key with wickets falling at the other end," Kishan said.
"Obviously rotation is very important. Seven runs, I could have taken singles and gone for the century but I never go into a zone where I've to play for myself. If I think of my individual score, when representing my country, then I'm letting down the fans."
Earlier this year, Ishan also missed out on a century in the IPL when he got out for 99 while playing for Mumbai Indians against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
"We needed five off two balls and I got out for 99 in the IPL. If I thought about rotating the strike, then it would have been difficult to win."
"Obviously it's disappointing to miss a hundred but I think 93 was a big contribution to the team. It was very important to give the momentum to the team and keep the team in the zone so that there's less pressure on the next batters," he said.
Kishan, who played the last year’s T20 World Cup in UAE, has been ignored for the upcoming edition because of the ordinary returns in the IPL 2022.
"Obviously it feels bad when you are not part of the side for a big tournament like the World Cup. But I think I’ve some shortcomings that selectors would have noticed, so it's about improving myself."
Reflecting on his match-defining partnership with Iyer, Ishan said: "They had two left-arm spinners so as a left-hander it was for me to take chances and put the attack on their bowlers. "I've played so many matches here and know the wicket very well. I knew it would slow down in the second innings, but after playing Keshav Maharaj I knew this wicket did not have much on offer. We just wanted to take our chances before the ball got old."
(With PTI inputs)
