Ishan Kishan has wreaked havoc in the warm-up clash against South Africa at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. The Jharkhand captain produced stellar performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which helped him earn a spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad. Since his comeback, the keeper-batter has been a force to reckon with, smacking a century in the fifth T20I against New Zealand and now, played a charismatic knock against the Proteas in the warm-up clash.
He smacked ace pacer Anrich Nortje for three sixes in the fifth over of the match and that tells the kind of form he is in at the moment. The 27-year-old eventually completed his half-century in just 20 balls and with that, he has confirmed his place as an opener in the T20 World Cup. Sanju Samson has failed to establish his authority in the middle during the New Zealand series, and that prompted the team management to shuffle the top order as Kishan is paired with Abhishek Sharma.
Kishan, Abhishek retired out
It seems that India have set a particular time slot for each batter in the warm-up clash. Despite being in spectacular form, Kishan was called back after 20 balls. He departed after scoring 53 runs. Abhishek Sharma, who struggled in the middle for a while, was called back after scoring 23 runs off 19 balls. He showed glimpses of his class but fair to say, Abhishek wasn’t at his best on the night.
Tilak keeps up with the momentum
The returning Tilak Varma has kept up with the momentum as he made 45 runs off 19 balls. Marco Jansen bowled a yorker targeting his left stump and to Tilak’s shock, the bail clicked but he initially felt that it was going down the line. However, he played a stellar knock and it is now up to Suryakumar and Axar Patel, who was promoted to number five.