India tied the series 1-1 against South Africa without first-team players. Today, Tuesday is the series decider at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Where India’s main hope is Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. Their 161-run stand in Ranchi helped India level the series. Shreyas’s century and Ishan’s innings of 93 runs have remained memorable in the minds of Indian cricket lovers.
Ishan and Shreyas want to give another busy batting gift in Delhi. In an interview on BCCI.TV after the match, both said that the Ranchi match is over. They aim to win the match in the capital and keep the series in the country.
Ahmed’s position
Bengal’s Shahbaz Ahmed made his debut in the second match. He started his journey in international cricket with one wicket. If he gets a chance in Delhi, he will aim to improve that performance. Also, to see if Bengal’s Mukesh Kumar is given a chance. Mohammed Siraj and Avesh Khan played two consecutive matches. One of them may be rested in the final match. Mukesh Kumar’s domestic cricket record is enviable. Recently, he also bowled well for the Indian ‘A’ team.
He can swing at both ends of the wicket. VVS Laxman also saw him closely. He also witnessed Mukesh’s progress during his tenure as Bengal’s Vision 2020 coach. Whether Laxman plays Mukesh in the last match remains to be seen.
Conversation between Kishan and Iyer
Ishan Kishan and Shreyas though are confident of winning the last match. Ishan told Shreyas, “I saw you staring at the crowd for a while after the century. I was also very happy to see you. I also narrowly missed out on a century. That too at home. What do you say about this innings?” Shreyas replied, “Thanks Ishan. I didn’t celebrate anything. I tried to play according to the match situation. Nothing extra was in my mind.”
Ishan also asked, “You got a century, but I didn’t. Don’t you feel bad?” Shreyas’s reply, “I felt really bad after you missed the century. As long as you were batting, everyone was enjoying your batting. Your name was being chanted.” “But after you got out, I thought I’d stay at the crease until the end. Not going for anything extra. Didn’t bat accordingly though. Played a lot of aggressive shots,” he added.
Both are very excited about the last match. Ishan was saying, “We are going to play the last match of the series in Delhi. Which is again the series decider. Can we be stress-free?” Shreyas replied, “It’s our job to be pressure-free. I got a century in this match. Maybe you’ll get that in the next match.” Ishan said, “Of course, I will try. I want to get the feeling of winning a series by scoring a century for the country at least once. We have seen our predecessors, and how they have won the country one series after another. Now we have to shoulder the responsibility.”