(Cricket news) The 24 year old was replacing the injured Rohit Sharma as Ishan Kishan blasted the fastest ODI double century in the final ODI against Bangladesh in Chattogram. He got to the landmark off just 126 balls, shattering the previous record held by Chris Gayle, who’d taken 138 balls against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup. Kishan also became the fourth ODI double-centurion Indian after Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar subsequently became the seventh batsman overall to achieve the feat, along with the likes of Gayle, Martin Guptill and Fakhar Zaman. Kishan went on to add 290 for the second wicket as Virat Kohli made his 44th ODI hundred, and his first in the format since August 2019. The Kishan-Kohli stand was India’s third-highest partnership in ODIs, and the seventh-highest ever in ODI cricket.
Kishan looked in superb touch as he accelerated at an astonishing pace right after reaching his maiden international century off 85 deliveries. He just took 18 more balls to get to his 150, and another 23 balls to reach the 200 mark. The wicketkeeper-batsman astonishingly scored 150 runs off boundaries alone, with 24 fours and 10 sixes. It took an excellent running catch to dismiss Kishan on 210 off 131, by skipper Litton Das. That innings really cemented his authority for the opening slot in the team as the likes of Rohit and Shikhar have been underperforming but youngster have stepped on the big stage
The Mumbai Indians player was the fourth opening partner that India had used in the last four with Shikhar Dhawan as the Delhi batsman failed for the fifth game running. But Kishan made the most of his opportunity to light off a slow pitch from the first ball to keep attacking the Bangladesh bowlers throughout. Unlike in Dhaka, there was green grass on the Chattogram surface, which meant that despite the general sluggishness of wickets , the slower balls did not grip and the spinners were taken to the raptors.
The great thing about this innings was that even though Kishan was going berserk hitting boundaries as he targeted very specific areas and he stuck to his strengths for almost 36 overs. All his ten sixes were swung from wide long-on to long leg. His boundaries had a greater range as well, he would either power the ball straight down the ground or through extra cover, or cut and sweep hard. Striking at almost 200 he never looked out of control and with a calming influence like Virat Kohli he made most of his opportunity.
This innings could be detrimental for Shikhar Dhawan’s position in the team as the veteran batsman has played the most ODI matches this season without registering a hundred but on the other hand Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan have grabbed their opportunity fully. Shubman Gill has scored 638 runs in 13 matches while Ishan Kishan has scored 417 in 8 matches although Dhawan has scored more runs then both the batsman but averaged just 32 runs in those 22 matches. The new selection committee has a huge task figuring out the best combination for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
