Ishan Kishan is a prime example of a contemporary batter who takes pride in his ability to favor six-hitting above spending hours in the crease bringing ones and twos. The left-handed wicketkeeper-batter stated that very few can knock sixes as readily as him, so it makes no sense for him to concentrate on rotating the strike that much. In the second ODI against South Africa, he helped India effortlessly chase down the 279-run goal in 45.5 overs.
During the post-match interaction after scoring 93 runs in 84 balls, he said, “Rotate karne ki jaha tak baat hai toh wo kuch players ka strength hota hai, kini ka strength hota hai chhakka marna. Toh mere jaisa koi chhakka bhi itni jaldi nahi maar sakta, main bohut asaani se maarta hu. Wo mera strength hai. Toh agar main chhakke se hi kar leta hu kaam toh rotate ka utna sochta nahi hu. (Some players have the strength to rotate the strike, my strength is to hit sixes. I hit sixes effortlessly and not many can do that. If I do the job by hitting sixes, there’s no need to think about rotating the strike much).”
India’s convincing victory to tie the series was largely due to Kishan’s 161-run partnership with Player of the Match Shreyas Iyer, who scored an unbeaten 113 off 111 balls.
He added, “But ha bohut se aise innings ayenge jaha pe rotation bhi zaroori hoga, jaha pe wickets pahle girr gaye honge toh uske lie bhi practice karna zaroori hai but agar strength chhakka hai aur ball hai maarne layak toh maaro chhakka. (If your strength is hitting sixes then go for it, what’s the need of rotating the strike just for the sake of it. But yes there will be time when rotating the strike would be key with wickets falling at the other end).”
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Ishan Kishan was just seven runs away from what may have been his first international hundred on Sunday when he was dismissed by the the same six-hitting passion. He was on his knees when the catch was made after pulling a short ball from Bjorn Frontuin straight to deep mid-wicket.
He further added, “Obviously rotation is very important. Seven runs, I could have taken in singles and gone for the century but I never go into a zone where I’ve to play for myself. If I think of my individual score, when representing my country, then I’m letting down the fans.”
When the Mumbai Indians’ opener was dismissed for 99 in their chase of 202 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Ishan also missed a century in the IPL 2020. Talking about that match he said, “We needed five off two balls and I got out for 99 in the IPL. If I thought about rotating the strike, then it would have been difficult to win.”
