After struggling in the T20I series against the West Indies last week, young Indian opener Ishan Kishan rediscovered his form with a stunning 89 in the series opener against Sri Lanka in Lucknow on Thursday (February 24), en route to India's resounding victory in the first T20I.
Kishan hit 10 boundaries and three sixes in a 56-ball 89, surpassing Rishabh Pant as the highest individual score by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter in a T20I innings.
Despite the knock and the record, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes the youngster must demonstrate consistency if he is to be considered for the T20 World Cup squad. While Gavaskar praised some of Ishan's drive and pull shots, as well as his knock in Lucknow, he believes that Ishan's knock was aided by the conditions in the first T20I.
“Certainly, the way he batted today, that does give the indication. But this is only the first game. In the three matches against West Indies, he didn't quite look comfortable. That length, pace and bounce were all different. Here the bounce was below the shoulder, towards mid rift, making it easier for him. But not taking away anything from his innings, some of the drives and pull shots that he played were terrific, but this was one innings. Let's wait for consistency. Let's wait a couple of matches,” he told Star Sports.
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Ishan had earlier in the West Indies series opened the innings with a strike rate of 85 and scored just 71 runs in three innings. The legendary cricketer believes that if he can show consistency, he can cement his spot because he brings a lot more to the team.
“Once the consistency is there, you can say that 'this is the guy we want', because he offers you three things - he is a wicketkeeper, he is a left-hander and he can bat at top and also finish the innings as well batting at 5 or 6.”
In the series opener, Kishan's knock helped India set a target of 200 runs, with Shreyas Iyer also scoring a 28-ball 57.
India won by 62 runs after restricting Sri Lanka to 137 for 6.
