One of the innings to remember was played by Ishan Kishan in what was only his second game, after making a comeback in the Indian cricket team ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. Kishan made a 32-ball 76, slamming his fifty in only 21 balls, to help India chase down 209 in a record 15.2 overs at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on January 24 (Saturday).
The person most impressed by it was former India spin stalwart Ravichandran Ashwin. Singing praises of the southpaw from Jharkhand, Ashwin said that Kishan did not look like someone playing to keep his place in the team, but someone who wanted to change the way he is looked at. The off-spinner, still hoping to ply his trade in leagues around the world, added that it was this nature of Kishan that differentiated him from others.
What did Ashwin say about Ishan Kishan after the Raipur innings?
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ash Ki Baat, Ashwin, while in conversation with senior sports journalist Vimal Kumar, pointed out how the left-handed, “pocket-sized dynamite” was in the form of his life during the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 and led his side, Jharkhand, to a great championship win.
“Ishan Kishan batted brilliantly. Just wow. He isn’t playing for selection anymore; he’s playing to dominate,” Ashwin said.
But it wasn’t only Ishan; it was rather his partnership with skipper Suryakumar Yadav, where the duo added 122 off just 48 balls to get New Zealand out of the game. Ashwin was mighty impressed with how India changed the template despite losing two quick wickets of its openers early on.
Other teams will be sweating before facing India in T20 World Cup 2026
India lost two quick wickets in the first two overs and were unable to score. Instead of cautiously building in the power play, Kishan went berserk, and the entire template was changed. Ashwin praised this approach.
He said, “For a long time, we played soft cricket in T20s—focusing on milestones or stabilizing after early wickets. But to see India reach 75 in the powerplay after being two down for almost nothing? That is championship-level intent. I have rarely seen such fearless batting in a pressure chase.”
“All teams will have fear looking at this batting line-up now,” added the 39-year-old.
The Indian team will now take the field against the Kiwis in the third T20I in Guwahati on January 25 (Sunday). A win here could give them an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.