New Delhi, February 13
India's opener batter Ishan Kishan received the Impact Player award in the dressing room for his impactful knock of 61 runs during the fixture against Namibia, which India won by 93 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday.
Kishan's impressive knock came off just 24 balls, which set the tone for India's batting.
During the award presentation in the dressing room, the head physiotherapist of the Indian team, Kamlesh Jain, announced the winner, saying, "Today's impact player is about belief, hard work and mental toughness. When he was not part of the team for two years, he had the belief that whenever he came back, he would make an impact. From working hard in domestic cricket for two years and being mentally tough, he has really come on, and when he got this opportunity, he has just capitalised. Today's impact player is Ishan Kishan, who scored 61 off 24 balls."
Kishan took the medal and jokingly said, "Very well done, guys."
After a blazing 24-ball 61 by Ishan and a 28-ball 52 by Hardik took India to 209/9 despite a four-fer from skipper Gerald Erasmus, India were challenged by Namibia well in the powerplay, as the visitors ended that phase at 57/1. From there, Varun Chakravarthy (3/7 in two overs), Axar Patel (2/20 in three overs) and Hardik Pandya (2/21 in four overs) turned the tide in India's favour, skittling Namibia out for 116 runs in 18.2 overs.
India leads Group A with two wins in two matches, followed by Pakistan with the same record.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir also addressed the team and said, "Well done today on the result. I thought we were very clinical. To start with, Ishan and Sanju, that was a fantastic start. We spoke about the intent, we spoke about you wanting to be aggressive, you want to be brave, and that is exactly how we want to play."
India will face Pakistan in their next group-stage match in Colombo on Sunday.
- ANI
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