Ishan Kishan, adjudged Man of the Match after his blistering 56-ball 89 set the tone for India in the first T20I versus Sri Lanka in Lucknow on Thursday, attributed his success to captain Rohit Sharma.
Advice from Rohit, alongside whom Ishan has also batted at Mumbai Indians in the IPL, turned out to be very useful for the 23-year-old left-handed batter.
“The wicket was not that good. There wasn’t enough bounce. But Rohitbhai told me to hold my shape and believe in my strengths, something that he focuses on doing. And that’s what I tried to do as well... Going for the shots that were in my arc,” Ishan said at the post-match news conference.
“You shouldn’t get overexcited when you get runs and the same goes with when you don’t perform.
“You need to be in a good space and talk to the seniors since they are much more experienced than we are. So it’s very helpful when I have conversations with Rohitbhai.
“It’s very helpful for me as I know the captain and coach believe in me, and I just go there to perform,” Ishan emphasised.
Rohit became the highest run-getter in T20I cricket during the course of the game, taking his aggregate to 3307. Rohit’s teammate Yuzvendra Chahal, on the other hand, became India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is (67 wickets), finishing with figures of 1/11 off three overs.
