Follow UsIshan Kishan, who bagged the Man of the Match award in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Lucknow, asserted that he learnt a lot from the failures he endured in the three-match series against West Indies, and revealed that he tried to keep things simple on Thursday as he blazed a sensational 89 that dismantled the Lankan bowling attack.
The series against the Windies was a forgettable one for Kishan, who averaged 23.66 and struck at a mere 85 as he struggled for rhythm and timing. But he managed to turn things around in the first T20I in Lucknow, posting his highest ever T20I score.
The 23-year-old admitted that his batting lacked intent and positivity against West Indies, and revealed that he re-discovered his touch by merely keeping things simple.
“I got to learn a lot from the West Indies series. My intent wasn't good enough, I wasn't positive enough. I was just trying to keep it simple here - watch the ball and play my shots,” Kishan said after the first T20I.
The southpaw, in his innings, hit as many as 13 boundaries, but noticeably, close to 35% of his runs came via singles and doubles as he and his teammates exploited the longer boundaries in Lucknow to perfection. Kishan revealed that a mid-game chat with Shreyas Iyer helped him go about constructing his innings smartly, and asserted that playing in big grounds serves as good preparation for the batting unit heading into the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.
“It's a positive thing for the batting unit as well because you need to hit gaps preparing for the world cup in Australia. I was talking to Shreyas about the mid-wicket region. He said if you middle the ball you could get a boundary. If you hit the gaps you can get two. And it went my way.”
On Thursday, Kishan bagged the Man of the Match award for the second time in his T20I career. The first instance came on his debut against England, in which he smashed a swashbuckling 56 off just 32 balls.