Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan played a valiant knock of 82 runs against a spirited Pakistan side who had already taken 4 Indian wickets for the loss of 66 runs on Saturday. Kishan, along with Hardik Pandya, played a crucial role in the middle order to help India get past 250 runs against their arch-rivals.
Interestingly, Kishan wasn't even India's first-choice wicketkeeper and it was only after KL Rahul's injury that the young left-hander was given a chance in the Indian XI. Kishan was sublime in one-day international cricket in 2023, even going so far as to score a double hundred, but with plenty of options at the top of the order, it wasn't enough to save his place in the Indian side.
After the match against Pakistan, Kishan managed to break or equal many of the records held by the likes of MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli. The 25-year-old scored his fourth consecutive fifty in ODI cricket on Saturday, following his match-winning performances against the West Indies earlier this year.
Kishan joins the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajinkya Rahane and Sourav Ganguly in the list of Indian players with the most consecutive 50s. Moreover, Kishan became the 9th Indian batter to register a 50-plus score in his first appearance against Pakistan, only the second left-hander after Yuvraj Singh to achieve this feat.
Kishan also now holds the record for highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper batter in an Asia Cup match against Pakistan. MS Dhoni earlier held this record for his 76 runs knock against Pakistan in 2008.
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