‘Facing Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult in the MI nets helped in facing Jofra Archer’ – Ishan Kishan after match-winning fifty on debut against England

Ishan Kishan, the Indian left-handed batsman, said that he benefitted a lot by playing the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult in the Mumbai Indians’ camp in the Indian Premier League (IPL). On Sunday, March 14, the southpaw made his debut for Team India in the second T20I against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The 22-year-old Kishan stated that facing Bumrah, Boult among others helped him face Jofra Archer’s thunderbolts. The left-hander said that he has garnered enough belief to tackle express pace at the highest level as well.

It has given me the belief: Ishan Kishan

“Yes, I think it helps obviously. To face bowlers almost clocking almost 150 kph in the nets and playing shots against them is a huge confidence booster before a game. It has given me the belief that I can tackle fast bowlers at the international level as well.

“Plus, during the IPL you get to face international pacers like Boult, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, etc., which helps the batsmen get used to playing quality seam and swing bowling,” Kishan said after the game.

Kishan replaced Shikhar Dhawan in the playing eleven and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He smashed 56 runs off 32 balls with five fours and four sixes when India were chasing 165. Though he got out to Adil Rashid, he made sure that he laid the platform for the run-chase.

India’s decision to field first paid dividends as they won by seven wickets with 13 balls to spare after a decent show with the ball. More crucially, they drew level in the five-match series. Ishan stated how the hosts stuck to their plans and targeted a few bowlers to chase the target down in the game.

“There was nothing to be changed from the first game. Yes, we had a bad game but we still have to stick to the process and execute our plans better. It is important to not deviate much from the plans you set before the match. And we did exactly that tonight.

“We knew the wicket would get comparatively easier to bat in the second innings and decided to target certain bowlers,” he added.