Guwahati: Caught in the sidelines as a forced substitution to replace injured skipper Rohit Sharma, opener Ishan Kishan seized the opportunity with both hands by beating the fastest ever double century to take India to a massive 409 for 8, in the insignificant third and final ODI against Bangladesh at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Saturday.
With this performance, Kishan became seventh overall and the fourth Indian batsman to reach the milestone. Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag are the other Indians to hit a double barrel in the 50-over format. Martin Guptill of New Zealand, Chris Gayle of the West Indies and Fakhar Zaman of Pakistan are the other batters who have passed the 200-run mark in the format.
Ishan roared his way to the double century in just 126 balls, eclipsing West Indies great Chris Gayle’s record for fastest to 200 in an ODI innings. Gayle had reached the milestone in 138 balls against Zimbabwe in 2015.
Kishan finally finished with a flamboyant 210 from 131 deliveries, peppered with 24 boundaries and 10 sixes. Former skipper Virat Kohli’s 91-ball 131, seemed a pale shadow of Kishan’s combative knock.
Ishan’s knock has certainly reopened the debate on batting approach in the rankings in white ball cricket. The Indian cricket team has recently come under fire for a rather defensive batting approach in the shorter formats of the game.
Former opener Virender Sehwag hailed Ishan’s knock, saying, “That’s the way to do it. Brilliant from Ishan Kishan. This is the approach that will do Team India a world of good.”
Venkatesh Prasad, former spearhead of the Indian pace, also echoed similar sentiments saying, “Take a bow Ishan Kishan. Fastest double hundred in the history of the game. This is the way India needs to adapt. Maybe not in a few days, but a better approach every day. So much fun to watch.”
The southpaw Jharkhand also surpassed former skipper Sourav Ganguly to become India’s highest individual points scorer as an opener in an overseas match. Ganguly had scored 183 goals against Sri Lanka in Taunton in 1999.
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At the age of 24, Ishan thus became the youngest ever double centurion in ODIs and is also the first batsman ever in history to convert a first hundred in a double ton.
Bangladesh has already won the three match series by winning the first two matches.
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