Gambhir lauds Ishan for his heroics in the first T20I against South Africa

International cricket is back in action after Indian T20 League 2022. The South African team is on a tour of India to play a five-match T20I series. Visitors claimed an easy victory over the second-string Indian team led by the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Proteas captain, Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to field first in the first match.

Starting with the young opening pair of Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad, India got a good start of 57 runs for the first wicket. Ishan Kishan played an amazing knock of 76 runs with 11 fours and three sixes. His knock helped India post a decent total of 211 runs in 20 overs. He got praise for his excellent knock as he was going through a lean patch in the Indian T20 League 2022.

This was why Mumbai Indians bought him at such a huge price - Gambhir

Starting the innings with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan played shots in all the areas of the ground and ended up playing a blistering knock of 76 runs off 48 balls. Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir heaped his praises for the young lad on his strong comeback into form on the back of a decent individual inning in the first T20I against South Africa.

"Ishan Kishan is dangerous and this was why Mumbai Indians bought him at such a huge price at the auction. His knock is the batting you want to see in T20 cricket, you call this selfless batting". Gautam Gambhir was quoted as saying by CricBuzz,

Gautam Gambhir has lauded Ishan Kishan for his attitude in the innings despite being criticized for his poor outings in the 15th edition of the Indian T20 League. He also justified the amount Mumbai spent to buy Ishan Kishan for the ITL 2022. Gambhir also compared Ishan's inning to the one which is expected from a player in T20 cricket.

Although, India lost the match despite Ishan's heroics in the first inning. Senior batter David Miller and Rassie Van Der Dussen easily took visitors home with an unbeaten partnership of 131 runs for the fourth wicket to chase the target of 212 runs with 7 wickets left.