'Heard we are the B-side' - Ishan Kishan on what inspired Shikhar Dhawan's India ahead of 2nd ODI vs SA

Rohit Sharma-led India's T20 World Cup-bound players left for Australia last week. After finishing their three-match T20I series versus South Africa, which theywon 2-1, Rohit & Co. left for the marquee tournament with the Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian ODI locking horns with the Proteas in the 50-over series at home.

Losing the first ODI by nine runs, in pursuit of 250 in a 40-over contest, India had to win the second and penultimate encounter to keep the series alive. With many of their regulars in Australia for the T20 WC preparations, the talk was that Dhawan-led India's side is a second-stringed side or a B-team, hence, will find it difficult to level the series.

After India rode on Shreyas Iyer's 113 not out, Ishan Kishan's 93 and Md Siraj's 3 for 38 to win the second ODI by seven wickets, Kishan revealed what motivated India ahead of the Ranchi face-off on Sunday (October 9). Speaking at the post-match press conference, the swashbuckling left-hander said, "I heard people talking that we are the B-side, we are not so much capable of beating South Africa's full strength side. I heard these comments and we're really upset about it, so we wanted to play our A-game today."

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Kishan stitched a match-winning 161-run third-wicket stand with centurion Iyer. Both came together with India reduced to 48-2 in pursuit of 279, after Keshav Maharaj-led SA opted to bat first. "Partnership was good with Iyer bhai because he is also someone who doesn't take much time. He comes and starts playing his drives, cut and pull. Looking at his intent also gave me a lot of clarity and lot of positivity," Kishan stated on the partnership.

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