Lucknow: India captain Rohit Sharma was extremely pleased to witness left-handed opener Ishan Kishan’s scintillating 89 in the first T20I against Sri Lanka Thursday. He added that he was happy with the way Kishan went about building his innings.
Kishan’s 89 off 57 balls, laced with ten fours and three sixes, set the base for India’s convincing 62-run win over Sri Lanka.
“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. It was so pleasing to watch from the other end. The way he constructed the innings was so good, that is usually his problem. It was not about coming and hitting the ball, it was also about finding the gaps,” said Sharma in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Sharma was also happy with the return of Ravindra Jadeja from a long injury lay-off and hinted at him getting a promotion in the batting order in future matches. Making a comeback, Jadeja was the only bowler to complete his full quota of overs, conceding 28 runs and getting Dinesh Chandimal stumped easily by shortening the length along with turn and bounce.
“Very happy with Jadeja’s return. We want more from him that is why we asked him to bat higher. You will see that happening more and more in the games that he plays for India. I want him to bat up the order more. He is a very improved batter, so we will try and see if we can promote him going forward. We are very clear with what we want to achieve with him in white ball cricket.”
Sharma felt good about India playing T20Is at home against West Indies and now Sri Lanka in big stadiums but was worried about lapses in fielding. Apart from a couple of mis-fields, India also had two dropped catches when Sri Lanka were chasing.
“I love playing in big grounds because that’s where you are tested as a batter. Here you got to use a bit of batsmanship as well. In Kolkata you can just time the ball for a six. We are dropping a few catches, which is not expected at this level. I guess our fielding coach (T Dilip) has some work to do. We want to be the best fielding side in Australia.”
With the winning streak in T20Is now extended to ten matches, India will be hoping to build upon 1-0 lead in three-match series when the caravan moves to Dharamsala for back-to-back matches over the weekend.
