India vs South Africa warm-up: Ishan Kishan settles the debate; Surya and his boys are on the loose

TimesofIndia.com in Mumbai: At the post-match presentation during India’s warm-up game against South Africa, Ishan Kishan admitted that he knew he was going to open a day before the match. And boy, did he make the most of the opportunity, ending the Ishan Kishan vs Sanju Samson debate, at least for a while now.

Ishan Kishan’s belligerent 20-ball 53 lit up the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and sealed the opening spot for India’s tournament opener against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.




If the T20I series against New Zealand was an opportunity to prove that he still belonged, the fixture against South Africa was a stern message that he is warmed up for the marquee event. In front of over 40,000 spectators, Ishan was like a kid who knew his way around a candy shop as he picked his spots as effortlessly as drawing lollipops from the shelves. Anrich Nortje was a portrait of disbelief when he was smashed for four sixes in an over. The faster he bowled, the quicker they sailed into the stands as South Africa looked like a hapless bunch when the assault was on. The pick-ups over fine leg were clean and mean, the variations were read to perfection, and it was fitting that his entertaining innings ended the way it started—with an authoritative six.

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I did find out a day prior to this game. Was very much excited for this opportunity. I wanted to open the innings.

Ishan Kishan

Ishan always had that extra spunk in his batting, but there has been tremendous improvement in his range, and the hard yards in the domestic circuit have hardened him for the international grind. He has been a character who was never overawed by the occasion, but the weight of runs has allowed him to take his game a few notches higher than where it was when he last played at this level. There is no fear, no insecurity, and a lot of clarity. The runs did come at No.3 in the New Zealand T20Is, but Ishan was really “excited” to return to the opening position in the Blues.

“I did find out a day prior to this game. Was very much excited for this opportunity. I wanted to open the innings. Enjoyed batting at 3 as well. With the World Cup coming up, even if I was to bat at any number, I was looking to do my best,” he said after India’s 30-run win over South Africa.

Clarity of thought has remained the keyword in how Ishan has gone about his business since returning to the setup, and it is validated by the shot selection in the last few outings. Seeing the ball and reading the bowler has been the mantra, and the emphasis has been on “staying in the present” rather than “putting too much thought or effort”.

“I think it’s about staying in the present, watching the ball, and playing the shots that are required at that point in time. I’m not putting too much thought or effort into it. I’m just reacting, watching the ball, and playing accordingly, and that seems to be working well for me. Some days you feel really good, some days you don’t.

“On this particular day, I also have to give credit to the pitch; it was tremendous to bat on, even in the second innings. With the World Cup so close, it’s important to be in the mindset that if the ball is there, even if there’s a fielder, you back yourself and go for it,” he added.

When he was called back to the dugout after facing 20 balls, which were laced with seven sixes and two fours, captain Suryakumar Yadav was up on his feet applauding the knock. Hardik Pandya came out of the change room to tap his former Mumbai Indians teammate’s head in appreciation, and the team management would have taken a sigh of relief at having found the missing piece to their batting puzzle.

Sanju Samson’s loss of form came at a very poor time as far as the wicketkeeper-batter is concerned, but Ishan’s giant strides to dominance augured well for the entire unit heading into a multi-nation tournament. Surya had tried to keep everyone guessing when he said the call on Ishan and Sanju would be revealed on February 7, but he wasn’t left with an option other than to take the “definitely Ishan and Abhishek (to open)” route at the toss.

Such was Ishan’s dominance that even Abhishek was reduced to a spectator from the other end as the wicketkeeper-batter farmed most of the strike and manufactured shots at will. The two would exchange a smirky smile every time Ishan went big and the scoreboard raced to 80/0 at lightning speed. For a change, Abhishek wasn’t the marauder in the first six as he could only manage 23 off the 14 deliveries he faced.

This is what good form, coupled with the right amount of backing, can do. It can reduce one of the most destructive batters in the format to the position of a bystander. A batter used to hitting at least a couple of boundaries in his first few balls found his first hit to the ropes only off the eighth delivery he faced. Two more came off the next two, but it was clear by the end of the fourth over that it was Ishan who was dominating the powerplay game on Wednesday.

There has been a lot of debate over Ishan vs Sanju Samson for the spot, but it is now set to be put to bed. You surely can’t bench an in-form batter like Ishan, and Sanju’s excess baggage of recent failures will weigh the team down in their title defence at home. There is scope for extended runs, like an out-of-form Surya got in bilaterals, but multi-nation tournaments are a different sauce. One bad game, one poor start can suck momentum out of the campaign, and there is very little scope for recovery in a format which, like India’s batting, vrooms in the fast lane.

Sanju tried, and so did the management by giving him an extended run, but it looks like the right-hander’s wait to play his World Cup game for the country is going to get even longer.

At the moment, it’s Ishan’s world, and we all are living in it.

Indian batters on the fast lane

Meanwhile, the Indian batters too have embraced life in the fast lane, and Wednesday evening was another exhibition of the template they have stuck to in the last few months in the format. Even in tight corners, there is no intention of slowing down, and Suryakumar Yadav & Co. will instil a lot of fear in the oppositions they are scheduled to face in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

There is a belligerent Abhishek Sharma, a back-to-form Suryakumar Yadav, consistent Tilak Varma, a dangerous lower middle order featuring Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, and a fresh addition to this dangerous bunch is pocket dynamo Ishan Kishan.

Former India captain MS Dhoni had already warned the other teams, praising Team India’s “vast experience” in the shortest format of the game.



“It is one of the most dangerous teams. But what all is needed in a good team? Everything. They have the experience, especially when it comes to this format. The experience is vast,” Dhoni had said on cricket commentator Jatin Sapru’s official YouTube channel.

Fasten your seatbelts as Surya and his boys are on the loose, and the way they are batting is the culmination of the shifting tectonic plates in T20 cricket.

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