Wouldn't point a finger at him: Gavaskar in awe of Ishan Kishan after his heroics vs Pakistan in Asia Cup

India kicked off their campaign in the Asia Cup by taking on Babar Azam-led Pakistan on September 02 (Saturday) in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Opting to bat first, India were tottering at 27 for 2 and were further reduced to 66 for 4 before Ishan Kishan, batting at No. 5 for injured KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya stitched an impressive 138-run fifth-wicket stand as India managed to recover.

Eventually, Kishan (82) and Hardik (87) enabled India to post 266 all-out in 48.5 overs before rain abandoned the remainder of the game. While India's top-order continued to struggle versus Pakistan's pacers, especially Shaheen Afridi, Kishan gave a good account of himself while batting in a tough situation and was ably supported by white-ball vice-captain Hardik. After the game, Little Master Sunil Gavaskar lauded the 25-year-old despite the youngster missing out on a much-deserved century.

Gavaskar toldIndia Today,"Got to give credit to the young man for coming in a crisis situation and scoring 82 runs and having that partnership. I think if he was discomforted by some injury, it is only natural for him to think that because he cannot run fast between the wickets, he should be looking for the boundary. So that's totally understandable at all. So I wouldn't point a finger at him at all. I would just pat him on the back and say well done to the young man."

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Kishan played his shots whenever offered enough room but was very calculative in his approach during his solid stand with Hardik. He took his chances versus the spinners and rotated the strike as well but lost his wicket for 82, dismissed by Haris Rauf in the 38th over. He missed out on a big knock, however, led India's recovery with a lot of maturity.

Meanwhile, the former Indian opener also heaped praise on Hardik, who top-scored for the Men in Blue with a fine 87. "I think again no praise can be too high for the way he shepherded Ishan Kishan through that partnership. And of course, scoring runs himself hitting the boundaries, picking the ones and twos. And he showed that, you know, in a crisis situation to rise to the occasion, that was terrific innings," Gavaskar added.

On Monday (September 04), India took on lowly-ranked Nepal and the winner will join Pakistan, from Group A, inthe Super Four. Talking about Kishan, he has made a strong case for himself, with the BCCI selectors set to name the 15-man provisional squad for next month's home ODI World Cup very soon.

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