Young Indian wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan has leapfrogged MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant to attain a special record during the 1st T20I against Sri Lanka on Thursday. The Jharkhand-born smacked 89 runs off 56 deliveries to guide India to 199 runs after batting first.
He put up a marathon opening partnership of 111 runs with skipper Rohit Sharma; who made 44 runs in 32 balls. Kishan achieved a unique milestone as he scored the highest individual score by an Indian wicket-keeper in T20I cricket. Kishan upstaged Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and MS Dhoni on the list.
Highest individual scores by an Indian wicket-keeper in T20I cricket:
Ishan Kishan – 89
Rishabh Pant – 65
KL Rahul – 57
MS Dhoni – 56
After his splendid 56-ball 89 in the first T20I against Sri Lanka, @ishankishan51 spoke about his conversations with @ImRo45 and the inputs he has received from the #TeamIndia Captain. 👍 👍#INDvSL | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/jkq0qOxcEP
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 25, 2022
Defending 199 runs, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Venkatesh Iyer starred with the ball, picking up two wickets apiece. Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with one wicket each.
Speaking at the end of the match, Ishan Kishan admitted that the series against West Indies was a good learning curve for him.
“I got to learn a lot from the West Indies series. My intent wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t positive enough. I was just trying to keep it simple here – watch the ball and play my shots. Pull is my favourite shot, I enjoy playing that shot,” Ishan Kishan said.
“It’s a positive thing for the batting unit as well because you need to hit gaps preparing for the world cup in Australia. I was talking to Shreyas about the mid-wicket region. He said if you middle the ball you could get a boundary. If you hit the gaps you can get two. And it went my way,” he added.