LUCKNOW, Feb 24: Lavishing praise on Ishan Kishan, India skipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday said he was particularly impressed with the way the young opener constructed his innings after the powerplay, something which has proved to be a problem for him in the past.
The 23-year-old from Jharkhand blasted a career-best 89 to set up India’s crushing 62-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I.
“I know Ishan for a long time now. We play for the same franchise (Mumbai Indians) in IPL. I know the mindset and ability Ishan has. It was about getting the rhythm back and it was very very pleasing to watch him bat today,” Rohit said during the post-match presentation.
“He constructed the innings very well after six overs, which is usually a challenge for him because we know he likes to play his shots. It was not about coming and hitting the ball, it was also about finding the gaps.”
Ravindra Jadeja was back in the team after spending two months on the sidelines with an injury and Rohit said he wants the allrounder to bat higher up the order in T20s going ahead.
“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..”
Though most of the things went India’s way, Rohit did address the fielding issues of the team and dropping easy catches.
“It is consistently happening. We are dropping easy catches which is not expected at this level.. Our fielding coach has some work to do. We want to improve on this and come Australia, we want to be a great fielding side.”
Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka admitted his team was outplayed in all three departments of the game.
“We were really poor in all three departments. They batted beautifully, read the game and conditions really well.”
Spin duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga were nursing injuries and Shanaka said they missed their services in the match.
“We are without two frontline spinners, Theekshana and Hasaranga. The replacements aren’t really experienced. Asalanka (‘s form) was a positive from this game. Chameera is bowling beautifully. He is our main strike bowler but the situations didn’t allow me to bowl him longer.”
Adjudged Player of the Match for his whirlwind 56-ball innings, Kishan said he tried to stay positive after being in subdued form in the preceding white-ball series against West Indies.
“I got to learn a lot from the last few matches. My intent wasn’t great but here I tried to keep it simple,” he said.
“I think pull is my favourite shot and I was actually waiting for the ball to play that shot. Bigger boundaries is good thing as we get lots of gaps. My plan was to middle the ball towards mid-wicket and it went my way.”
India will next play Sri Lanka on Saturday at Dharamsala. (PTI)
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