India’s wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan revealed he had already told his teammates that he is going to try to hit a six on the first ball he will face.
Kishan lived up to the expectations as he smashed Dhananjaya de Silva over long-on for the maximum despite not timing the ball as he would have liked.
Kishan was able to hit the ground running as he scored a four on the second ball he faced. The southpaw was in a hurry as he took the attack to the opposition as soon as he came to the crease.
In fact, the left-hander was looking to hit every ball out of the park and he had made his intentions clear from the ball one he faced. Kishan became the fifth ODI batsman to score a six on debut since 2002.
Furthermore, the left-hander from Jharkhand completed his fifty off just 33 balls. Kishan’s 33-ball fifty is the second-fastest on ODI debut after Krunal Pandya, who took 26 balls to score a fifty on his debut against England.
Kishan scored 59 runs off just 42 balls and helped the team in chasing down 263 runs with ease.
Ishan Kishan said while talking to Sony Sports, “Actually, everyone knew it, inside also I had already told everyone that once I go, wherever the first ball is, I will hit it for a six. Because the odds were in my favor – birthday plus a good pitch and I was playing my first ODI and I felt I could target him.”
Kishan was celebrating his 23rd birthday and stated that his knock was a return gift for the team.
“The most special thing was that it was my birthday and I was playing my first ODI. Everyone asks for a return gift, so I always wanted to give it by playing a good knock and helping the team win.”
Kishan revealed Rahul Dravid told him during practice that he will batting at one down and thus he was well prepared for his role.
“Dravid Sir had already told me during the practice sessions that I will bat at No.3. So whatever practice I had to do with the new ball, obviously I was doing for a long time. It was not something that we decided during the match, it was decided beforehand.”
The second ODI will take place at the same venue on Tuesday.
