Colombo, February 15 Opener Ishan Kishan smashed 77 off 40 balls as India staged a strong comeback after losing aggressive batsman Abhishek Sharma for a duck, reaching 92 for 2 after 10 overs in their T20 World Cup match against arch-rivals Pakistan here on Sunday.
Kishan, who was experiencing cramping, hit 10 fours and 3 sixes, putting pressure on the Pakistan bowlers, while Tilak Varma played a supporting role with a composed 12, allowing his more aggressive partner to dominate the scoring.
Play was briefly interrupted as Kishan required attention from the team physio due to discomfort in his right leg. However, once the match resumed, Kishan was dismissed by Saim Ayub off the fourth ball of the ninth over, bringing in captain Suryakumar Yadav (3 runs).
The partnership between Kishan and Varma yielded 87 runs, stabilizing the innings after the early setback.
Earlier, Abhishek, who had missed the previous game against Namibia due to a stomach bug, was dismissed off the final delivery of the opening over by off-spinner Salman Ali Agha. He was caught at mid-on by Shaheen Shah Afridi. He has yet to score a run in this edition of the T20 World Cup, having been dismissed for a duck against USA.
