Ishan Kishan announced his arrival in the One Day International format, hitting his first century in four years during the second India vs Afghanistan ODI at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday.
This is Kishan’s second ODI century and his first since his majestic double hundred against Bangladesh in December 2022. Kishan reached the three-figure mark with a hat-trick of fours.
He brought up his century in 71 deliveries, laced with 14 fours and four sixes.
Earlier, skipper Shubman Gill also struck a 77-ball ton. The pair of Kishan and Gill was prolific as they piled on 224 runs in just 140 deliveries for the third wicket.
Kishan started cautiously, scoring his first 25 off 28 deliveries, which included two fours and a maximum. He then slammed three more fours to reach his half century in 52 deliveries.
From there, Kishan went berserk and completed his next fifty runs in just 19 deliveries to reach the three figure mark in only 71 balls. Even though he entered the crease nearly 11 overs later than Gill, both batters completed their centuries in the same 33rd over.
In the next seven deliveries, he added 24 more runs before being dismissed for 125 by Nangeliya Kharoti in the 37th over.
Gill continued his attacking innings, filled with gracious strokeplay and audacious power hitting, and scored 154. The power packed innings from Kishan and Gill ensured India went past 400, putting on a mammoth 402 on the board. In the second innings, a comprehensive bowling performance saw India bowl out the visitors for just 232 runs to win the match by a 170 run margin.
Kishan’s international career has received a second wind recently. After losing his BCCI central contract in early 2024, he went back to the domestic circuit, dominated the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy by leading Jharkhand to a title as captain, and fought his way into India’s triumphant T20 World Cup squad. He also led his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first half of the tournament in the absence of regular captain Pat Cummins and was impressive in his leadership.
With the bat too, he was at the forefront of SRH’s exploits, scoring over 600 runs in the IPL 2026 season. This led to his comeback in the One Day side after November 2023.