India vs South Africa: Ishan Kishan's Fiery Response On Criticism Over Strike Rotation
India vs South Africa: Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan starred with the bat as India chased down 279 to win the second ODI in Ranchi
Shikhar Dhawan-led Team India levelled the ongoing three-match ODI series against South Africa as they chased down 209 at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan played knocks of 113* and 93 respectively as India registered a comfortable seven-wicket win with 25 balls to spare. Shreyas and Kishan stitched together a stand of 161 runs for the fourth wicket and this partnership set up India's victory. In the end, Shreyas (113*) and Sanju Samson (30*) remained unbeaten for the hosts.
After the 2nd ODI, Ishan Kishan addressed a post-match press conference where he spoke about the win and his mindset.
"We always try to learn. Whenever we do feel, we can brush aside our mistakes but with the standard of cricket we are playing, we have to learn a lot. On the days we play well, we analyse our mistakes and try to find out how we can get better. I missed my hundred, but 93 was also good in terms of contributing to the team. You feel bad when you miss a hundred, but next time when I am in a similar situation, I will try to not miss the hundred," said Kishan.
"When it comes to rotating the strike, some players have their strength as rotating the strike. Some players have strength in hitting big shots. Not many people can hit sixes like me, I can do that easily. Hitting sixes is my strength, when I can go about doing my job through big shots, I do not think about rotating the strike then. There would be times when I would be required to rotate the strike, so practice for that is also paramount. But if the ball is there, and my strength is hitting six, so I should not force myself to rotate the strike," he added.
Kishan was out trying to hit yet another six, as he missed out on his maiden ODI century by just seven runs.
But the southpaw said that if the ball was there to be hit, he would go after it, as runs for the team were more important than individual milestones.
"Rotation is important in today's cricket. The thought does come to your mind, that 'I'm seven runs from a hundred and I should get there through singles'. But I have never played my cricket like that. If the ball is there, I go after it. I never go into that zone where I am thinking just about my runs. If I am playing for India, and I am thinking about my runs, then I am letting the fans down."
When asked about his thoughts on missing the T20 World Cup squad, Kishan said: "Obviously you feel bad when you are not part of the squad for a big tournament, if you make your team there, it is a proud feeling. But I think there would be some areas where I would be lacking and the selectors and coaches would have spotted those. I also feel improvement can be done and I know I can get a lot better."
"I know this is my best performance, I can do better. There are a lot of players in our main team who are in good form. I will wait for my time, and it is about me having that self-belief whenever I get that opportunity," he added.
India Cricket Team
South Africa Cricket Team