Promoted up the order, Ishan Kishan made the most of the opportunity in the second ODI against Afghanistan in Lucknow on June 17, Kishan wreaked havoc with his 79-ball 125, his first ODI century in four years, since the double ton against Bangladesh. After the match, Kishan indicated that he was going for another double ton but skipper Shubman Gill asked him to hit six sixes in an over, resulting in his dismissal after hitting Nageyalia Kharote for two.
“Brother, in trying to make me hit 6 sixes, you cost me 70 [75] runs!” Kishan said in a video posted by bcci.tv.
“You had to hit them anyway!” Gill replied.
“[I] had to hit them 100%” Kishan added.
How Kishan lost his wicket?
At the start of the 37th over, Kishan was batting on 113 off 76 balls. Kharote started with a wide down the leg side. Next ball was short in length and Kishan pounced on the opportunity, hitting it over deep square leg for a six. Next ball, Kishan hit a one-handed six over deep mid-wicket. On the third delivery, the ball kept low and Kishan mistimed it to substitute fielder Ikram Alikhil stationed at deep mid-wicket.
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Kishan’s T20-like acceleration
Earlier in the innings, Gill was already closing in on 90s when Kishan reached his fifty. He dominated the strike and ended up completing his hundred in the 33th over, same over as Gill. He After reaching his fifty from 52 balls, he took 19 balls to complete his century. With three consecutive fours off Bilal Sami, Kishan reached his century from 71 deliveries. On the other hand, Gill took 77 balls to reach his ninth ODI hundred, the fourth-fastest by an Indian captain. Gill went on to score 154 runs from 110 balls, including 10 fours and a couple of sixes. India ended up getting all out for 402 and won the match by 170 runs.
Chance to break record missed
Gill and Kishan put on 224 runs for the third wicket. This is the fourth-highest third-wicket partnership for India in ODIs. They missed breaking Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar's 27-year-old record. Dravid and Tendulkar shared an unbeaten 237-run partnership against Kenya in World Cup 1999.
The record for highest third-wicket partnership in ODIs belongs to West Indies' Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin. The Caribbean duo shared a 258-run stand against Bangladesh in 2014.
India have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODI series. The dead rubber will be played on June 20 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. After that, Kishan will head to UK for T20I series against Ireland and England. Gill will join him later for the ODI series next month against England.