During India's tour of the West Indies, Ishan Kishan was in peak form, bagging three straight fifties in the ODI series. Yet, despite leading the scoring charts and helping India crush the Windies by 200 runs in the final match, the opener felt his individual performance in the decider fell short of his own standards.
Ishan Kishan had an outstanding ODI series against the West Indies as the opener smashed back-to-back three half-centuries in the Caribbean Islands. Despite being the leading run scorer in the three-match ODI series, Ishan was not pleased with his match-winning performance in the series decider on Tuesday. Kishan stated that he was not happy with his performance in the series finale after India’s 200-run triumph against the Windies.
Kishan wrapped up the three-match series with 184 runs, a performance that placed him in an exclusive club featuring MS Dhoni. He is now one of just six Indian players to hit at least a half-century in all three matches of such a series, mirroring a milestone last reached by Shreyas Iyer back in 2020 during the New Zealand tour.
Wasim Jaffer, who once opened for India, weighed in on Kishan's success, urging the young talent to study the blueprints of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Jaffer's point was clear: while three fifties are impressive and keep Kishan high in the pecking order for opening and keeping slots, the next step is converting those starts into 'daddy hundreds.' According to Jaffer, the ability to play the long innings is the primary lesson Kishan should learn from the veterans of the Indian squad.
However, he must learn to convert those starts into big hundreds. That is what Indian hitters should take away from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Jaffer said.
Reflecting on his Player of the Series award, Ishan admitted he wasn't happy with how he closed out his innings. He noted that his seniors had advised him to dig in and score big once he was settled at the crease, a goal he intends to prioritize in future matches.