In a high-stakes clash during the Asia Cup 2023 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Sri Lanka’s Kandy, Ishan Kishan etched his name in the annals of Indian cricket history by becoming the second wicketkeeper-batsman from India to register four consecutive half-centuries. Kishan’s valiant knock of 82 played a pivotal role in rescuing India from a precarious situation.
Arriving at the crease as the fifth batter, Kishan found the Men in Blue in a challenging predicament at 66/4 after 14.1 overs. However, his partnership with the versatile all-rounder Hardik Pandya proved instrumental in India’s recovery.
The Ishan-Pandya duo steered India beyond the 200-run mark, but Kishan began to grapple with cramps, making it arduous to navigate between the wickets. Consequently, he resorted to going for big shots. The partnership, which yielded 138 runs, was eventually broken when Kishan mistimed a shot, offering a catch to skipper Babar Azam. Kishan’s resilient innings came to a close at 82 (81 balls), featuring nine boundaries and two towering sixes, courtesy of Haris Rauf’s delivery.
This marked Ishan Kishan’s seventh half-century in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and his fourth consecutive score of 50 or more in ODIs. During the series against the West Indies in July-August, Kishan had produced notable scores of 52, 55, and 77 in three ODIs, culminating in an impressive average of over 61, which earned him the ‘Player of the Series’ accolade.
In a noteworthy historical context, the only other Indian wicketkeeper-batsman to achieve four successive half-centuries in ODIs was MS Dhoni in 2011. Dhoni’s remarkable feat saw him amass scores of 69, 78, 50, and 87* against England.
Kishan now joins a select group of Indian cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Navjot Singh Sidhu, and Sourav Ganguly, who have also registered four consecutive fifty-plus scores for India.
Among these luminaries, Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have taken it a step further by achieving five successive fifty-plus scores for India. Notably, Virat Kohli’s astonishing streak featured scores of 133*, 108, 66, 183, and 106 in five consecutive ODIs, establishing the strongest run by an Indian in ODIs.
In the broader realm of international cricket, Pakistan’s Javed Miandad holds the record for the most successive fifty-plus scores, accomplishing this feat with nine consecutive such scores between March and October 1987.
India faced early setbacks in their innings during the Asia Cup 2023 clash, losing skipper Rohit Sharma (11), Virat Kohli (4) to Shaheen Afridi, and Shreyas Iyer (14) and Shubman Gill (10) to Haris Rauf.
The opening game of the Asia Cup 2023 saw India winning the toss and choosing to bat at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
