Ishan Kishan played a key role with the bat in India’s 2-1 ODI series win over West Indies. The southpaw slammed half-centuries in all three ODIs while opening the innings.
In the series opener, India had to chase a paltry target of 115 and Kishan played a knock of 52 in 46 balls to script the visitors’ five-wicket victory. He scored run-a-ball 55 in India’s six-wicket defeat in the second ODI.
Kishan saved his best for the series-decider in Trinidad on Tuesday (August 1). The left-hander slammed 77 off 64 balls and added 143 runs for the opening wicket with Shubman Gill to lay the foundation for a mammoth 351/5 on the board.
After India won the third ODI by 200 runs, Ishan Kishan deservingly earned the Player-of-the-Series award but he was gutted for missing out on scoring a century in the decider.
“Not so happy with the finishing that I gave. I was supposed to score big after being set. That’s what my seniors told me, I should’ve stayed in and scored big. That’s what I’ll try next time, I’ll get set in the middle and score big. It’s important at this level to get set. It’s important to forget the last game and start from 0. I was thinking of taking it one ball at a time,” Kishan said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
He also showered rich praise on his opening partner Gill, who scored 85 off 92 balls in the series-decider.
“[On Shubman Gill] He’s a tremendous player, I’ve seen how he middles the ball. Seeing him hitting it out of the middle gives me a lot of confidence as well,” Ishan added.
For India, Shardul Thakur (4-37), Mukesh Kumar (3-30), Kuldeep Yadav (2-25) and Jaydev Unadkat (1-16) were among the wickets as the tourists bundled out the hosts for a paltry 151 in the third ODI.
“Always important to win at this level, the learnings from these games are important. We were looking to get early wickets, and didn't let any ball go,” Kishan said.
The two teams will now square off in a five-match T20I series, starting August 3 in Trinidad.
“Everyone is looking very positive. I’ve played a few tournaments here and I know how the wickets play here, not really thinking about the next T20 world cup. Focussing on the upcoming tournaments, you know how one tournament can change your life. We’re just focussing on that now,” Kishan concluded.
