Former India opener Virender Sehwag is in awe of in-form Ishan Kishan who scored a blitzkrieg fifty against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 group stage encounter at Colombo’s R.Premadasa Stadium on February 15. Despite Abhishek Sharma falling for a four-ball duck, Kishan decimated Pakistan bowling attacking featuring several spinners, stamping his authority with a carnage-filled knock. Sehwag was left impressed by Kishan and called him a ‘real Dhurandhar’. In addition, he trolled Pakistan for their 17th century (outdated) approach T20 cricket as they lost by a huge margin of 61 runs.
“Ishan Kishan played like a real Dhurandhar. Among all minnows Pakistan looked like the easiest to beat for Bharat because of their 17th century approach to T-20 cricket, and they have taken a proper beating as usual. Full kambal kuttai,” Sehwag wrote in a post on X.
Kishan backs his strengths on tough wicket
Kishan was adjudged ‘Player of the match’ for his 40-ball 77 laced with 10 fours and three sixes. His knock helped India post 175/7, ab above par score on a Colombo track with big boundaries. Pakistan batters, especially the top four, surrendered as they were bowled out for 114 in 18 overs.
“I think the wicket was not that easy in the beginning, but sometimes you just have to believe what you want to play, what shots are on, and you have to just focus on your strength. So I was just keeping it simple and watching the ball and playing with the field, maybe trying to make them run as much as they can, but yeah, I think it worked pretty well in my side,” Kishan said in the post-match presentation.
Kishan exploits the off side
Kishan is a strong batter on the leg side. However, against Pakistan, he found boundaries on the off-side as well. The wicketkeeper-batter revealed that he focused on finding the gaps, keeping it simple.
“I think I did work a lot on my off-side game and it will give me the balls where I want them to bowl if I play good shots on off-side. So I was just trying to hit the gaps because it's a big boundary and when it's a big ground you get bigger gaps. So I was just trying to keep it simple, like I said, trying to hit the gaps, trying to at least take two runs because wicket was not easy. I had that in mind that we need to put a total like 160-170 runs and it will be a very good total for us,” the southpaw said.
India, Pakistan’s next clashes
With their third win on the trot, co-hosts India have qualified for the Super 8 stage. But, Pakistan's net run rate has taken a hit. The Salman Agha-led side's next match against Namibia on February 18 is a must-win. On the same day, India will go up against the Netherlands at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.