Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lavished praise on Ishan Kishan for the confidence he showed coming into bat against New Zealand on Sunday.
Kishan came in at one down after Sanju Samson lost his wicket and immediately took the Kiwi bowler Matt Henry to the cleaners. Ashwin thought that Samson had lost his wicket to a good ball, but Kishan more than made up for it in the way he approached the first over.
“Just look at how Ishan Kishan played yesterday. Sanju Samson got a very good ball, and after a such delivery, if you are watching from outside, from the dressing room, and see someone get a ball that lands in the middle and hits the stumps, the mindset is usually to go see how it plays, maybe it will seam a bit and Matt Henry is a good bowler.”
The former Indian player examined the ball that Kishan launched into the stands for six and felt that it wasn’t in the slot but the left-hander’s confidence in himself was what showed when he took on Henry at that point in the game.
“But Ishan Kishan came out and played it in such a way that the game was practically over in a single over. 16 runs, no hesitation. As soon as he played the first shot, I was amazed at what a shot he played. It was not in a slot, and it was his first ball. To play like that, you need confidence, you need skill. Ishan Kishan has always had that skill, which is why he sells for so much at every auction. But that audacity, that I am not stepping back, is a different breed that we are seeing altogether,” he added.
India finished a target of 154 set by New Zealand in 10 overs, with 13-ball 28 being a cameo to the half-centuries scored by Abhishek Sharma and captain Suryakumar Yadav.
