The Indian cricket team made a strong comeback in the second T20I match of the five match T20I series and leveled the series by 1-1 by defeating England by 7 wickets. The match was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium yesterday and India decided to bowl first after winning the toss.
The decision was proved right by the Indian bowlers as Jos Buttler was sent back to the dressing room for duck on the first ball that he played but Jason Roy got reasonable support from Dawid Malan (24), Jonny Bairstow (20), Eoin Morgan (28) and Ben Stokes (24). However, Jason Roy was once again unlucky as he missed his half-century by 4 runs and got out on 46 runs. The visitors managed to put a total of 164/6 on the board in the stipulated 20 overs.
Team India had made some changes from the first T20I as Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav made their debut for the Indian squad. Ishan Kishan is basically from Bihar but plays from Jharkhand in the domestic circuit. He is a wicketkeeper-batsman but he was given the responsibility of opening the innings with KL Rahul.
The start of the Indian innings was not good as KL Rahul was unable to open his account when he was caught by Jos Buttler on the bowling of Sam Curran. On the other hand, Ishan Kishan batted fearlessly along with the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and not only stabilised the Indian innings but also increased the chances of India’s victory. Ishan Kishan scored 56 runs for which he played 32 deliveries and his innings included 5 fours and 4 sixes.
Ishan was praised by not just the Indian cricket lovers but also the former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag who was known for his hard-hitting batting and presently he is representing India Legends in the Road Safety World Series. Viru took to the micro-blogging site Twitter and appreciated Ishan Kishan. He also referred to MS Dhoni as he is also a wicketkeeper-batsman from Jharkhand and is known for his hard-hitting knocks.
Sehwag tweeted, “A young keeper batsman from Jharkhand promoted up the batting order and proving his caliber. This has happened before. Loved the fearlessness and attacking batting of Ishan Kishan.”
A young keeper batsman from Jharkhand promoted up the batting order and proving his caliber. This has happened before.
Loved the fearlessness and attacking batting of Ishan Kishan. pic.twitter.com/874tXa0uoz
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 14, 2021
In 2005, MS Dhoni was also promoted up the order at number 3 by the then skipper Sourav Ganguly and the team management in the ODI against Pakistan which was played at Vishakapatnam. India won that match with the help of Dhoni’s superb knock of 148 runs.
As far as the second T20I is concerned, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli remained not out at 73 and ensured that he stayed on the crease till the Indian side achieved the target. The Indian team scored 166/3 with 13 balls remaining in their innings and Ishan Kishan was adjudged as the player of the match for his blistering knock of 56 runs.
Well played India!
