Ishan Kishan of India raises his bat after scoring a hundred during the 5th T20I match between India and New Zealand at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, India, on January 31, 2026. (CREIMAS for BCCI)
The celebrations when he reached his hundred showed its significance. Ishan Kishan removed his helmet, raised his bat, sprinted towards point, leapt in the air, and fell into Hardik Pandya’s embrace. He completed a stirring redemption arc—from outlaw to outsider to hero. His streak of form is a blessing on several levels. He is the buccaneering T20 No. 3 India never had; he could open when Tilak Varma returns without disturbing the team’s balance.
Whether he is upgraded to opener is another question, and the team has a week to contemplate. But he is arguably the most postmodern one-drop batsman India ever had, even though he is only four games old in this role. As recently as the South Africa series, India was confused about their number three’s characteristics. They were caught up in the Virat Kohli-Shubman Gill mould—an accumulator rather than pure aggressor. Suryakumar Yadav was tried, but a lean patch intervened. India tried Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson, but neither inspired confidence. Ishan turned out to be the mould-breaker, the right man at the right time. In just four innings, he has added another layer of intimidation to this fearless batting lineup, dripping in power and panache.
This was the most brutally free-flowing knock of his international cricket against a high-class New Zealand attack. An incredible six off Lockie Ferguson, his first of the night, captured his rhythm. It came on only the seventh ball he faced, after Sanju Samson’s fall for another low score. It was a leg-cutter outside off-stump, perhaps too wide for optimum control. But with a crisp, clean bat-swing, he smote the ball through extra cover. The four before captured his bravado—fast and wide, beyond his reach, yet he imparted every ounce of coiled energy into the stroke, letting go of his bottom hand so the bat wouldn’t turn.
The strokes just reeled off his bat, as if its lone purpose was to disillusion the bowlers. Some batsmen plunge bowlers into helplessness; some wow them; those like Ishan leave them in despair. He doesn’t make batting look easy, but a sweaty profusion of power and belligerence.
The petrified Mitchell Santner summoned Ish Sodhi, the leg-spinner. Ishan greeted him with a humongous six. When Santner tried to check the flow himself, Ishan carted him for a four and six. In Sodhi’s next over, he plundered 28 runs. Nor did he spare the seamers. The gangly Kyle Jamieson was swivel-pulled and flicked beyond the fence. Ferguson was bludgeoned over long-off.
The supposedly less eventful middle overs became a theatre of brutal six-hitting. Against the spinners, he either waited and sunk on his knees to cudgel them over mid-wicket or danced down the surface to thump them over covers with a savage swing. Ishan and Suryakumar Yadav batting in the middle overs would be a fearsome prospect for most bowlers. Between the ninth and 17th over, they creamed 132 runs in eight overs—a decent T20 total a decade ago. Their stand of 137 was as bewildering as it was exciting.
Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak might have downplayed his side’s full-throttle aggressive inclinations—perhaps laying a ruse. This group is mad, magical and methodical. Totals of 272 could win 50-over games not too long ago. It’s scaled more frequently in T20s these days—not surprising when a side has the ammo of Abhishek Sharma, Ishan, Surya, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube.
His acceleration was smooth. From a simmering volcano, he exploded in the blink of an eye. In an onslaught that could haunt New Zealand bowlers, he raced from 52 to 103 in merely 14 balls—a blur of bottom-handed strikes to the fence and beyond. The ground’s dimensions, especially the square, were modest. But most of his 10 sixes would have cleared most grounds.
A technical tweak has also benefitted him. He has ditched the forward press he used in the past—more a tentative half-stride than a decisive front-foot thrust. He was prone to falling over when hitting leg-side. Now, he crouches more pronouncedly with the bat held higher. His knees dip as he shapes to encounter the ball. He takes a short backward stride, his weight concentrated on the back-leg, which functions as the axis of a compass as he draws a leg-side arc. The knee-flex is more exaggerated when he plays the slog-sweep, at which point he resembles a weightlifter in clean and jerk.
This movement sets up his base to launch a torrent of leg-side glides, heaves, pulls, and clumps. As much as 65 of his 103 runs—63 percent—were wrought through the leg side. Depending on length, he could clear the front leg for the slog-sweep, swivel for the pull, or move across for lashing cuts.
India have finally unearthed a postmodern No. 3 of uninhibited hitting prowess in Ishan Kishan. From outlaw to mould-breaker, Ishan has sung a stirring redemption song.
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