'Not many can hit sixes as early like I do' - Ishan Kishan
Kishan smashed the South Africans for 7 sixes and 4 fours through his near-hundred innings at his home ground in Ranchi.
Ishan Kishan's match-winning 93 in the second ODI of the three-match series against South Africa on Sunday (October 9) was glittered with a flurry of boundaries that the left-hander hit towards the back half of his knock.
Kishan weathered the storm after walking into bat at 28/1, with India chasing a stiff target of 279 on a dry surface in Ranchi, taking his time facing the Proteas seamers before he launched into their stand-in captain and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj.
The Indian No.3 hung back inside the crease to force Maharaj to bowl shorter than the ideal and dispatched him for sixes. Once set, Ishan Kishan treated another of his positive match-ups against Anrich Nortje with equal disdain. He hit 7 sixes and 4 fours in an innings that wouldn't, however, be the best of adverts for strike-rotation and manoeuvring the field.
Kishan, though, had no qualms playing an innings of such nature as he took pride in his six-hitting abilities while taking to the press after the fixture, calling it his "strength" and something that comes naturally to him.
Ishan Kishan: 'That is my strength; Hitting sixes'
"Kuch players ka strength hote hai rotate krna…kinhi ka chakka maarna….mere jaisa koi chakka bhi utna jaldi nahi maar pata hai. Mai bahot aasani se maarta hu. (For some players, rotating the strike is their strength….for others, to hit sixes…..not many can hit sixes as early like I do. I hit them with ease.)," Kishan told the press after India's seven-wicket victory.
Stressing on his point, Kishan also dispelled question marks on his ability to rotate the strike during the middle-overs: a quality he would have to instil inside his game if he is to remain a regular backup in the middle-order for India and keep his case strong.
"That is my strength. Hitting sixes," Kishan added. "So if I can do my bit by hitting sixes then I don’t think of rotating that much. But yes, there’ll be innings where rotation would be required when wickets would fall from the other end."
"Practicing for that is also important. But if your strength is hitting sixes and you get the ball to do so then you don’t need to rotate. Just hit a six."
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Kishan shared a memorable partnership of 161 runs with Shreyas Iyer, who went on to produce an unbeaten hundred to help India seal the win in the end. Iyer's partner missed out on a ton of his own by just seven runs.
But the disappointment of losing an opportunity to raise his bat for a century in front of a home crowd in Ranchi was papered over by the emotion of finishing on the winning side and contributing to the team's cause.
"When I played the first over of Maharaj, I realised wasn’t assisting (the spin) much," he added, explaining his tactics. "The ball was fresh and I felt we needed to take 2-3 chances before it became old because at times when you attack the bowlers also try and sway from their line and length to save themselves from conceding more."
"That’s when you get more easy boundaries. I thought it would become easier for Iyer as well. The plan was simple, if a left-arm spinner is bowling, I’d take the chance and try and put pressure on them."