India's tour of the West Indies 2023 is now in its final stage after the ODI series can to an end on August 2 (Tuesday). After clinching the two-match Test series by a margin of 1-0, India pocketed the ODI series 2-1. India and West Indies are now scheduled to compete in a five-match T20I series, starting August 3. As far as the visitors are concerned, their biggest winner of the tour so far has been wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who scored his third-consecutive half-century in ODIs.
After stroking a fast-paced fifty and ending the three-match series with 184 runs in three matches at an average of 61.33 and a strike rate of 111.52, Kishan was awarded the Man of the Series award.
After bagging the award, Kishan underlined the importance of remaining level-headed and converting starts into big scores in international cricket.
"Not so happy with the finishing that I gave. I was supposed to score big after being set. That's what my seniors told me, I should've stayed in and scored big. That's what I'll try next time, I'll get set in the middle and score big. It's important at this level to get set. It's important to forget the last game and start from 0. I was thinking of taking it one ball at a time," said Kishan.
Kishan also showered praise on his opening partner Shubman Gill, who scored his first half-century of the ongoing tour.
"He's a tremendous player, I've seen how he middles the ball. Seeing him hitting it out of the middle gives me a lot of confidence as well. Always important to win at this level, the learnings from these games are important. We were looking to get early wickets, and didn't let any ball go. Everyone is looking very positive," Kishan opined.
With the T20 series around the corner, Kishan would look to continue his spectacular form with the bat, especially with the next year's T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in the Caribbean. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter, however, doesn't want to focus on next year's competition just yet and wants to prioritise one tournament or series at a time.
"I've played a few tournaments here and I know how the wickets play here, not really thinking about the next T20 world cup. Focussing on the upcoming tournaments, you know how one tournament can change your life. We're just focussing on that now," said Kishan.
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