Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif applauded Ishan Kishan for playing a smart knock and not getting affected by the situation in his first game against Pakistan. However, Kishan scored 82 runs off 81 balls as India set a 267-run target in an Asia Cup Group A clash in Pallekele on Saturday, September 2 as well. But, the game ended without a result as rain didn’t allow Pakistan to face even a single delivery in the run chase as well.

While reviewing the match on Star Sports, Kaif praised Kishan. He said: “Ishan Kishan showed how to play your first match against Pakistan, that you should play your own game, play smartly, and take the partnership forward. So he should get full marks for today’s match. There is a lot of pressure. Gill was also playing for the first time. With what mindset did he come? He was absolutely reserved, he was in his shell and wasn’t playing shots as he wanted to play out the initial spell.”

On the other hand, Kaif highlighted that Ishan Kishan was always on the lookout for runs and didn’t refrain from punishing the bad deliveries also.

He said: “What did Ishan Kishan do? He said he has to hit boundaries as well, that he will take singles and doubles but also punish the bad balls. He played smartly, played cricketing shots. There was absolute clarity of mind about how he should play even though he was playing his first match against Pakistan. He showed the drives, hit boundaries through cover, and even hit a six over point. So he reacted to bad balls. If the ball was outside off-stump, he hit there only and didn’t play the pull with closed eyes. Gill and Ishan both came to play and Ishan Kishan won the contest.”