"Don't Mind Playing Second Fiddle": Ishan Kishan On His Match-Winning Partnership With Shreyas Iyer

India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan credited skipper Shreyas Iyer's attacking approach and praised debutant Naman Dhir's fearless bowling after India opened their five-match T20I series against the West Indies with an eight-wicket victory at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. While Iyer's unbeaten 102 powered a successful chase of 172, Dhir's three-wicket haul helped India restrict the visitors to 171. Kishan remained unbeaten on 37 from 27 deliveries and shared an unbroken 137-run stand with Iyer for the third wicket. With India losing both openers inside the first four overs, the partnership became the defining passage of the chase, with Iyer taking charge and Kishan providing the support required to keep the innings moving.

Rather than viewing his supporting role as a compromise, Kishan said it was the sensible approach once he recognised that his captain was seeing the ball exceptionally well.

“As a batter, when I'm not looking in that great of a touch and the batter at the other end is looking in great form and is connecting the ball well, in this case Shreyas Iyer, then I don't mind playing second fiddle at all. He was scoring the bulk of the runs in our partnership, and when he's batting beautifully, it's my job to let him punish the opposition bowlers.

“He did that job remarkably, and, in the end, we executed the run chase successfully. The plan was simple. We had a target in mind, and we broke it down into small parts. Whenever the bowler bowled in my zone, I looked to score. On the other end, Shreyas was in full flow, so we just kept the scoreboard moving. There was no panic because we knew one good over would change the game. That is what happened, and we got over the line,” Kishan told JioStar.

Iyer's innings, which contained 10 fours and six sixes, saw him bring up his maiden T20I century off 42 balls. India completed the chase in 14.4 overs, taking an early 1-0 lead in the series.

Earlier, Dhir had provided India with the breakthrough they needed during the West Indies innings. The all-rounder finished with 3/31 on debut, dismissing Shai Hope, Romario Shepherd and Shamar Springer. His response after being hit for a six particularly impressed Kishan.

Having seen Dhir bowl during their Mumbai Indians association, Kishan noted the difference in the youngster's approach and said his willingness to attack despite the setback was an indication of the work he had put into his bowling.

“I have seen Naman bowl during my Mumbai Indians days and at that time I would say he was more of a part-time bowler. But looking at how he was bowling in this match and the confidence he had, after getting hit for a six, on your debut, you tend to go more defensive. But Naman didn't do that and kept on giving that extra flight to the opposition batters, which helped him get a couple of wickets in his debut game.

“Him not going defensive and attacking the batters is something that makes you understand that this player has actually worked hard on his bowling, on his skill. It shows he has the mindset to take wickets and not just survive. If he keeps bowling like this, he will go a long way,” the keeper-batter added.

Dhir's spell complemented a disciplined effort from India's bowling unit, which also saw Kuldeep Yadav take two wickets. West Indies were eventually bowled out for 171 in 19.1 overs before Iyer and Kishan ensured there was little drama in the chase.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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