Lucknow: After having a poor outing against West Indies, Ishan Kishan starred with the bat to help India beat Sri Lanka by 62 runs in the first T20I on Thursday.
Kishan, who struggled last week in Kolkata, played a match-winning knock of 89 off just 56 balls, which saw 10 boundaries and three maximums. He along with skipper Rohit Sharma set the tone of the game with their 111-run opening partnership.
Talking about his conversation with Rohit in the middle, the Player of the Match Kishan said, "The wicket wasn't that good, we were trying to hit the ball but the ball wasn't coming that well. The bounce wasn't there but Rohit bhai just asked me to keep the shape because I also believe in my strength as much as Rohit bhai does. I was just trying to keep my shape, hold my shape and go for the shots when it was in my arc".
The 23-year-old went onto add that having rough days with the bat is "okay" and stressed that being "neutral at that point of time" helps to stay in the right mindset.
"After playing so much cricket, I guess you get used to the situation that okay tough times will come but it's very important to be neutral at that point of time. Like you don't get too much excited when you score runs and same goes when you don't perform," said Kishan at a virtual press conference.
"You need to be in a very good space, you need to talk to your seniors because they are much experienced than we are. It's very helpful when I sit with Rohit bhai when he comes to my room for conversations. So, it's very helpful for me and I know that he, the coach believes in me and I just go there to perform." Kishan further said that when seniors like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid "give you confidence", it helps youngsters like him.
"They have gone through such phases when you don't get enough runs. But everyone has shown lot of confidence and trust in me," Kishan signed off. (UNI)