A satisfied India captain Rohit Sharma waxed lyrical while hailing Ishan Kishan after their massive win against Sri Lanka in the first T20 International at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Thursday.
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Kishan, who was the costliest buy at the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction, hit a career-best 56-ball-89 in a player of the match-winning display.
After the match, Rohit, who's also Kishan's captain in the IPL at the Mumbai Indians camp, was all praise for the young wicketkeeper-batter.
"I know Ishan for a long time now. I know the mindset he has. I know the ability he has as well. It was just about getting the kind of game that he had today," the skipper said.
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Asked to bat first, India got off to a sensational start with Rohit and Kishan posting 111 runs in 11.5 overs for the first wicket. Even after Rohit's departure for a 32-ball 44, the left-hander continued his scintillating hitting.
The 23-year-old registered a career-best score but got out for 89 off 56 balls. His knock was laced with 10 fours and three sixes. India eventually posted 199/2 with Shreyas Iyer giving the finishing touches with a stunning, unbeaten 57 off 28 balls. And it proved more than enough.
"It was so pleasing to watch from the other end. The way he constructed the innings was so good, that is usually a challenge for him. We were talking in the middle about finding gaps," Rohit added.
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The skipper was also very pleased with the return of Ravindra Jadeja. The celebrated all-rounder was on the sidelines for some two months with an injury.
Rohit and Jadeja had in fact spent time together recuperating at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru before their respective returns to the national team. The skipper also defended the move to promote Jadeja in the batting order.
"Very happy with Jadeja's return. We want more from him, that's why we sent him up the order and you would see more of that in the upcoming games. He is in good form, especially Test cricket, and we want to use that in limited-overs. We will see if we can promote him up the order going forward," Rohit said.
India have now won ten matches on the trot, and need to win the remaining two matches against Sri Lanka in the series to equal the record for most successive wins in the format.
The second match is scheduled for Saturday at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala. The same venue will host the third and final T20I before heading to Mohali for the first of two Test matches. The tour concludes with the Day-Night Test in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, IPL Governing Council has revealed that the 2022 edition of the cash-rich league will start on March 26 in Mumbai.
