Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann showered praise on Ishan Kishan after India registered a comprehensive 170-run win against Afghanistan at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Wednesday. Ishan Kishan also continued his purple patch, smashing 125 runs off just 79 balls, which is his second ODI hundred.
He added 224 runs off 140 balls for the third wicket partnership with skipper Shubman Gill to put India in command. Kishan scored 14 fours and seven sixes in his blistering knock and scored his runs at a strike rate of 158.23.
“He is the sort of player who will do whatever job you ask of him without any complaints. The fact that he’s come back into the team and looks like he’s never been away is remarkable. He came to the crease and was circumspect for his first fifty, but then took just 19 deliveries to go from 50 to 100, which is ridiculous,” Swann said on JioStar.
The former spinner said Kishan didn’t do any slogging but played sensibly to score his runs all around the ground.
“It was not crazy hitting or slogging either. He was simply being sensible, picking his spots on the leg side, forcing the bowlers to change their lines, and then playing those gorgeous lofted extra-cover drives. It is a sign of sheer class. That shot, wide of long-off, is something he’s worked on over the last two years. It was an area where bowlers could shut him down, but he went away, worked on it, and turned it into a strength, which is brilliant,” he added.
Swann added that India has a solid bench strength because of the IPL but reckons veteran batter Rohit Sharma will be disappointed after scoring 48 runs and not converting his start.
“India has a very strong domestic tournament in the IPL, which continues to produce players, and at some point, someone is always going to miss out. Put yourself in the shoes of other nations around the world that don’t have that luxury and would scrap just to get their best XI on the field and compete. India has all these players vying for a few spots, and it brings out the best in them because they know they can’t afford to have a couple of quiet games. Rohit was disappointed with 48 today,” he said.
