Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has showered praise on Ishan Kishan after India won the fifth T20I against New Zealand comprehensively by 46 runs on Saturday. Kishan scored a blistering knock of 103 runs off just 43 balls with the help of six fours and 10 sixes.

The left-hander scored his runs at a blistering strike rate of 239.53 and played an instrumental role in helping India post a mammoth total of 271 runs on the board. Kishan took New Zealand’s leg-spinner Ish Sodhi to the cleaners in the 12th over, smashing him for 29 runs, including four fours and two maximums.

Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “The 12th over against Ish Sodhi was the big one. Sodhi must have thought I could have stayed in New Zealand itself. You think whether it’s a pincode number or a telephone number the way Kishan smashes them. He hits the opposition out, and the match is over there itself. He puts the team in a commanding position.”

“This wasn’t just domination, it was demolition. We saw him score a few matches back in his comeback game. To hit 10 sixes, not one or two, is unbelievable. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s a medium pacer or a spinner to him. What I like about him is he doesn’t think twice. He bats with no doubts.”

The 1983 World Cup winning player said no other team has a player like Ishan Kishan ahead of the T20 World Cup.

“It was Kishan’s knock, supported by Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, the score spiralled to 270+. 270 is always out of reach for any opposition. Now it’s become like if not Abhishek Sharma, it’ll be Ishan Kishan. Kishan’s knock was breathtaking, especially some of the shots he played are indescribable. No other team has a batter like him,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against the USA on February 7.