I Want To Dedicate This Award To My Coach's Dad Who Passed Away A Few Days Back: Ishan Kishan

The latest Indian sensation Ishan Kishan has dedicated his maiden ‘Player of the Match’ award to his coach’s father, who passed away a few days ago.

Making his T20I debut for Team India, Ishan Kishan displayed just why he is one of the exciting young talents in the country at the moment.

The pocket-size dynamo has been on a rampage since the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League where he smoked 516 runs in what turned out to be another triumphant campaign for the Mumbai Indians.

But can he do that in Indian colors? If anyone had that doubt, Ishan Kishan nipped that in the bud courtesy a display of fearless batting glittered with audacious strokeplay.

Make no mistake, Kishan was under pressure when he took his guard to face his first ball in international cricket against Jofra Archer.

India had just lost the wicket of KL Rahul, who registered his second consecutive duck in the series, and they were 0-1 after one over.

But that had no bearing on Ishan. He announced himself to the world with a nonchalant flick for a boundary off his very first ball in international cricket and what followed next was some of the most audacious strokeplay that you’d see in a T20 match.

He cut, pulled, slog-swept the likes of Tom Curran, Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan to bring up his maiden T20I fifty in just 28 deliveries, and in the process, he became just the second Indian to rack up a 50+ total- the first one being Ajinkya Rahane- in his very first T20I.

Indians with a fifty-plus knock on men's T20I debut:-
Ajinkya Rahane in 2011
(India scored 165 against England)

Ishan Kishan in 2021
(India are chasing 165 against England)#INDvENG

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) March 14, 2021

Thanks to his brilliant half-century, Ishan Kishan became the 7th Indian to win the ‘Player of the Match’ award on T20I debut. And, in the post-match conference, he dedicated his award to his coach’s dad.

”My coach’s Dad passed away a few days back and this innings was for him. I wanted to prove myself because he said you have to score at least fifty for my Dad. So I want to dedicate this award to him,” said Ishan Kishan.

Also Read: I Think We Ticked All The Boxes We Wanted To: Virat Kohli