IND vs SL: Sunil Gavaskar Urges Ishan Kishan To Be Consistent After 1st T20I Heroics

Ishan Kishan powered his way to his second T20I fifty scoring 89 off 56 balls against Sri Lanka in first T20I in Lucknow. It set up India to finish strongly on 10=99/2 after their 20 overs. There were contributions from Rohit Sharma (44) and Shreyas Iyer (57*) as well. Sri Lanka chasing 200 to win, could only get 137/6 in their 20 overs. Skipper Dasun Shanaka spoke at the post-match presentation about his team being outplayed in all departments of the game and the side missing a few of their key players.

Meanwhile, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar made an interesting observation about Ishan Kishan’s knock. The southpaw during his interaction said that pull was his favourite shot. While he hailed some of his drives and pull shots, Gavaskar felt that the conditions in the first T20I aided Ishan in his knock.

“Certainly the way he batted today, that does give the indication. But this is only the first game. In the three matches against West Indies, he didn’t quite look comfortable. That length, pace and bounce were all different. Here the bounce was below the shoulder, towards the mid rift, making it easier for him. But not taking away anything from his innings, some of the drives and pull shots that he played were terrific, but this was one innings. Let’s wait for consistency. Let’s wait a couple of matches,” he told Star Sports.

The former Indian skipper also asked Kishan to be consistent with his knocks now that he has got a good start in the series. He had a tough series against West Indies where he failed to cope with the conditions. Ishan scored 71 runs in three innings as an opener at a strike rate of 85.

Ishan Kishan Is A Multi-Dimensional Cricketer: Sunil Gavaskar

“Once the consistency is there, you can say that ‘this is the guy we want, because he offers you three things – he is a wicketkeeper, he is a left-hander and he can bat at top and also finish the innings as well batting at 5 or 6″ Gavaskar said.

Both teams now move to Dharmasala for the next two T20Is on February 26 and 27. The sides then play a two-match Test series in Mohali (March 8-12) and Bengaluru (12-16 D/N).

Also Read: IND vs SL: I Got To Learn From The West Indies Series: Ishan Kishan After Matchwinning 89 In Lucknow