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SOUTH AFRICA TOUR OF INDIA, 2022
Ishan headlines India's batting template 2.0
Purnima Malhotra
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It wasn't the most eye-catching 76 runs Kishan had scored in his near 150-game T20 career so far.
It wasn't the most eye-catching 76 runs Kishan had scored in his near 150-game T20 career so far. ©AFP
For a brief moment in between Wayne Parnell signing off his fine comeback spell of 1/32 and Kagiso Rabada returning to the top of his run-up in an attempt to stop the bleeding of runs at Kotla, the strike-rates of Rishabh Pant (26* off 12) and Hardik Pandya (13* off 6) had aligned perfectly. The newly-appointed India captain ran three more before losing his balance and perishing in the final over, while his deputy finished with an unbeaten 31 in a dozen. The duo's brief yet impactful knocks were a mere reiteration of how they'd spent the match eve - tonking the balls into empty stands in the V sans the fanfare, barely 60 minutes after their elevation to the leadership roles. Padded up and waiting in the wings in that optional training session, was Ishan Kishan. On Thursday (June 9) though, he led the way to India's batting template 2.0.

They weren't the most eye-catching 76 runs Kishan had scored in his near 150-game T20 career so far. A fair share of his 11 boundaries in fact came off edges as he struggled for timing initially on an awkward pitch that saw turn from first over itself and also seam movement for pacers. But he carried on undeterred by the pressure of that streaky start, and another 14 scratchy IPL 2022 innings before that, to launch an audacious acceleration at the backend of his knock and hook India up for a record total.

With luck on his side, facing the experienced Kagiso Rabada, Kishan had collected 18 off the first 14 deliveries and even saw his strike-rate dip to 113 as he picked only a run a ball in the next 16, maneuvering his way around the stern test from returning Parnell and a fit-again Anrich Nortje. But once left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj was into the attack - the tactical misses, ifs and buts of South Africa's bowling strategy aside - the southpaw decided to unleash.

In the next 18 balls, Kishan looted 42. The opener reached his 37-ball fifty with a slog-sweep over deep midwicket, and deposited two more into the same stand in the following over. The next two deliveries were sent straight down into the sightscreen to make it 20 off four balls. He got an LBW call confidently overturned next ball, but that did not deter Kishan from having another go at the spinner on the final one. His luck had run out by then, but strike-rate sky-rocketted to 158.33.

India were 137/2 at the end of that drama-filled 13th over, and amassed 99 between the end of powerplay and the start of slog-overs - meaning it wasn't just an Ishan Kishan show. The supporting cast all had statement cameos.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Kishan's opening partner through an action-filled powerplay worth 51, went from being the southpaw's back-up on this tour to auditioning simultaneously with him for the same World Cup spot in under 24 hours following an injury to skipper KL Rahul. But with 'intent' being the yardstick of modern T20 batting, Gaikwad, an accumulator otherwise, too traded aggregate for aggression. All of his three sixes on the night - first off a thick top-edge, second off a legside freebie and last courtesy a misfield - as well as the dismissal right after spoke of uncritically buying into this new blueprint.

At one-drop, Shreyas Iyer danced down the track to loft Tabraiz Shamsi over long-on off just the second ball he faced from the wrist-spinner. He'd do that to him twice more in the next four deliveries. Iyer though slowed down after racing to 24 off his first 10, but had done enough to force South Africa's hand into taking Shamsi off the attack for good, while Kishan dealt with Maharaj in his own sweet way. When Dwaine Pretorius found a way past Iyer, Pant threw his bat at everything next in the over to fetch 16 in boundaries while Pandya messed up Parnell's economy for the night with a 13-run sign-off featuring a six and a four.

Result: A record 211/4 that was way above par for the conditions.

"On this wicket it is a very good total as it was not easy and the ball wasn't coming properly initially so we had to keep the intent," Kishan told the broadcaster at the innings break. "It was important to keep the shape initially and I was just planning to watch the ball till the last moment and keep the shape going. We have to use the powerplay well as it won't be easy to score easily for the upcoming batters [in these conditions] and my job was to hit the bad balls for boundaries and keep the bowler under pressure.

"When the left-arm spinner came on to bowl, I told Shreyas that I will take my chances and told him that he can attack when Shamsi was bowling, because you got to be smart at this level," he added.

South Africa, of course, did one betterto scale it down with five balls to spare, but even in defeat India perhaps have successfully trialled a revamp strategy that their selection didn't initially indicate or intend. Even if momentarily, forced by last-minute personnel changes and under ad-hoc leadership, India have shown the willingness to shed the safety-first approach that had hastened their exit from the 2021 World Cup and is well past its expiration date.

While it does merit further evaluation, how inclined India actually remain towards this uninhibited batting philosophy in the face of this defeat and/or upon the return of the rested veterans is all up in the air for now. But with another World Cup just around the corner and fringe players knocking the doors down, something's gotta give.