India opener Ishan Kishan's match-winning knock against Pakistan was the reflection of a significant upgrade in his game, writes Rahul Iyer.
India’s dismantling of Pakistan in the sides’ T20 World Cup fixture on Sunday was almost decided in the first half of the first innings, as Ishan Kishan sprinted away to 77 off 40 balls. When he was out, India had 88 runs, at 10.15 per over. After that, they made 87 in all, at 7.68 per over.
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Match 27, India vs Pakistan
He was completely out of the reckoning in India’s T20I side, drafted into the World Cup squad at the last moment thanks to his ability to open the batting and keep wickets, and Shubman Gill’s loss of form. When he played against New Zealand in January, it was his first T20I since 2023.
The hot streak since his return has been incredible; 373 runs in seven matches, averaging 53.3 and striking at 215.6, rivalling Abhishek Sharma for his sheer ability to destroy bowling attacks.
“Is there anything better in the game of cricket than a left-hander’s cover drive?” Sunil Gavaskar gushed on Sunday after Kishan hit Abrar Ahmed for a third consecutive four in the seventh over.
“I did work a lot on my off side game. It will give me the balls where I want them to bowl, if I play good shots on the off side. So I was just trying to hit the gaps, because it’s a big boundary and you get bigger gaps,” the batter himself noted post-match.
The rise of Ishan Kishan 2.0
The inherent noise of T20 cricket means such streaks can happen for any player, but they are also often accompanied by incremental improvements.
Ishan Kishan 2.0 was on display in Colombo, and the aspect of his off side transformation has been stunning.
Prior to 2025, Kishan was an extremely leg-side dominant scorer; if and when he decided to go leg side, he would usually make it count. The pull and hook shots were especially effective against quick bowling, thanks to his short stature.
But what stood out on Sunday was his range against spin, as Pakistan delivered 18/20 overs of slow bowling.
As a left-hander, Kishan doesn’t always face left-arm spin; bowling captains are quick to keep that away these days. There can be an overreliance on ‘matchup logic’, but this is well-justified in his case. He has always had the ability to sweep, slog sweep and hit down the ground. Bowling a left-arm spinner simply feeds into this strength.
Pakistan came armed with Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha, two off-spinners, against Kishan. Sound planning no doubt, as India had lefties around Kishan as well.
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While he has consistently been a force hitting into the leg side against off spinners, yesterday’s matchup introduced a greater element of risk, as the ball was gripping and turning. If Kishan wanted to continue the same, he would have to hit against the turn.
In the past, this could easily have tied him down. In fact, from 2016-2023, he had an incredibly low strike rate when playing off spinners into the off side; hovering around the sixties. It was only since 2024 or so that he began to develop more reliable boundary options against the off-spinners, and build on the inside-out shot against left-arm spinners.
Twenty-five of Kishan’s runs against Pakistan came on the off side, just under a third of his total. This in itself is not much of a deviation from earlier in his career. But since the rate at which these runs come has skyrocketed, it makes things easier for him on both sides of the wicket.
Bowlers have less room for error, meaning they cannot, for example, hang it out wide and trust that Kishan will find a fielder, or at any rate, will not find the fence. In turn, this could well feed into his already-stellar leg side hitting prowess.
This is not to say Kishan is invincible. He remains with his weaknesses, particularly against pace bowling on a good length in the channel outside off stump. But unlocking increased severity on deliveries around this can mask the soft spots far more effectively; perhaps even long enough to get India a second title on the bounce.
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