Indian batter Ishan Kishan has expressed confidence in his six-hitting abilities after he scored a fine knock of 93 runs off just 84 balls in the second ODI against South Africa at the JSCA International Cricket Complex, Ranchi on Sunday. Kishan said if he can get the job done for the team by hitting sixes, there is no need to think about rotating the strike.
The left-hander has a thought process of a modern day batter, who backs himself to clear the fence at will. Kishan was playing in front of his home crowd in Ranchi and he was able to get going.
The southpaw had struggled on a difficult pitch in the first ODI at Lucknow but he looked more confident in his approach in the second game. The youngster took on the attack against the South African stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj as he made great use of the depth of the crease.
Kishan added a match-winning partnership of 161 runs with Shreyas Iyer, who scored an unbeaten knock of 113 runs.
Kishan scored four fours and seven sixes in his knock as he took the attack to the opposition bowlers, especially after going past the fifty-run mark. In fact, Kishan was all set to get his maiden ODI hundred but fell short by seven runs as he found Reeza Hendricks at deep square leg.
“Some players have the strength to rotate the strike, my strength is to hit sixes. I hit sixes effortlessly and not many can do that. If I do the job by hitting sixes, there’s no need to think about rotating the strike much,” Kishan said at the post-match media interaction.
“If your strength is hitting sixes then go for it, what’s the need of rotating the strike just for the sake of it. But yes there will be time when rotating the strike would be key with wickets falling at the other end,” Kishan said.
Kishan also admitted that rotation of strike is important and rued the fact that he could not get to his hundred. However, the Mumbai Indians batter added that he would never play for his personal records and will always put the team first.
“Obviously rotation is very important. Seven runs, I could have taken in singles and gone for the century but I never go into a zone where I’ve to play for myself. If I think of my individual score, when representing my country, then I’m letting down the fans.”
“We needed five off two balls and I got out for 99 in the IPL. If I thought about rotating the strike, then it would have been difficult to win.”
“Obviously it’s disappointing to miss a hundred but I think 93 was a big contribution to the team. It was very important to give the momentum to the team and keep the team in the zone so that there’s less pressure on the next batters,” he said.
The third and final ODI between India and South Africa will be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Tuesday.
