Ishan Kishan Reveals Virat Kohli Asked Him To Hit Jofra Archer For A Six On His India Debut

Ishan Kishan had made his much-awaited Indian team debut in T20Is against England at home in 2021, thanks to his amazing performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) in UAE. He was amongst the top scorers for Mumbai Indians in the tournament and had hit the most sixes as well.

The five-match T20I series between India and England was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad and Ishan Kishan finally got to wear the Blue Indian jersey at last in the second match of the series.

Chasing 165 runs, Ishan opened the innings alongside KL Rahul. However, the hosts got off to a poor start, losing Rahul in the first over. Kishan was then joined in by then captain Virat Kohli and he straightaway advised him to take on Jofra Archer from the very first ball and hit him for a six.

“I opened with KL [Rahul] bhai when he got out Kohli bhai came. So when I was facing my first ball he was there. The first thing he said to me when [Jofra] Archer was bowling,’look, there is no fielder there, hit him for a six.’ I said, ‘Umm, that’s Archer.’

But the way he said it, I felt he was right. I should smash Archer, that’s the zone I entered. And I got a boundary off the first ball. I was just happy about that, international first boundary Archer,” Ishan Kishan said on Breakfast with Champions.

Ishan eventually scored 56 runs off 32 balls, including five boundaries and four sixes to set up India’s victory.

Bro What’s The Plan- Ishan Kishan Said On Captain Shikhar Dhawan Asking Him Before His ODI Debut For India

After his T20I debut against England, Kishan had to wait for sometime to make his one-day international debut, which came under the captaincy of Shikhar Dhawan who led a second-string team to Sri Lanka in July 2021.

Speaking to Gaurav Kapoor, Ishan revealed Shikhar Dhawan’s words after he struck a six and boundary in the first two balls of ODI cricket.

He said: “Before going out, I had said the first ball is going to be a six. People think that it’s the first ball in international cricket, so let’s play it safe. But, I was thinking, time’s have changed and it got to big. Then the next ball I hit for four. Shikhar Dhawan came up and said ‘bro, what’s the plan?’ I just said I’m seeing the ball and hitting it.”

Kishan scored 59 as his knock helped India chase down the 262 runs set by Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Also Read: IPL 2022: Ishan Kishan Reveals An Instance When MS Dhoni Plotted His Dismissal