Indian opening batter Abhishek Sharma has disclosed that the No.3 batter Ishan Kishan never smiles whenever he comes out to bat, as he prefers to be in an intense zone. Sharma’s comments came in the post-match press conference after the third T20I against the West Indies.
While Abhishek scored 69 off 30, Kishan scored 37 off 18 to steady things in India’s favour as India posted a whopping total of 223 runs in 20 overs in the third T20I on Sunday, October 11. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Sharma further revealed that he always tries to ease the pressure on Kishan.
“He [Ishan] doesn’t smile when he comes in bat. So, I have to make him smile and feel relaxed. He likes to be in that zone when he walks into bat. But we have a good bonding. We have had a lot of partnerships in the IPL as well. So, we understand each other pretty well. Ishan comes in when we are one wicket down. There is a bit of pressure on him for the first few balls. I just want to release him from that,” Sharma said in the post-match press conference.
Further, Abhishek showered praise on Indian all-rounder Naman Dhir, stating that he has the potential to play for India for a long time. Notably, Dhir returned with the figures of 2/39 in three overs in Indore.
“I have seen him from U-14 days, so I know how well he can bowl. Obviously, he has that talent of bowling. We saw that in the last game as well. But I feel you just have to tell him that plan, probably. It’s that moment, probably the bowler doesn’t think too much at the moment he gets hit. We wanted him to delay things a bit and bowl his best ball – the off-spinner. That actually helped him,” Sharma added.
