Ishan Kishan: 'I worked a lot on my off-side game'

India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has said his improved off-side range helped him create more scoring opportunities against Pakistan on a slow, turning pitch at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Kishan has always been strong on the leg side, but on Sunday he scored 25 runs off nine balls on the off side, during his 77 off 40 balls. His versatility and power was central to India rising above the conditions and putting up an above-par total of 175 for 7.

"I did work a lot on my off-side game," Kishan said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award. "It will give me the balls where I want them [opposition bowlers] to bowl if I play good shots on the off side. So, I was just trying to hit the gaps because it's a big boundary and when it's a big ground, you get bigger gaps.

"So, I was just trying to keep it simple, trying to hit the gaps, trying to at least take two runs because the wicket was not easy. I had that in mind that we need to put a total like 160-170 runs and it will be a very good total for us."

That total eventually proved 61 too many for Pakistan, with India confirming their place in the Super Eights. India captain Suryakumar Yadav credited Kishan for leading the batting after they had lost Abhishek Sharma for a duck in the first over to Pakistan captain Salman Agha. Kishan dashed out of the blocks and by the eighth over he had contributed 72 of the 82 runs India had scored.

"Ishan thought something out of the box. After 0 for 1, there had to be someone taking responsibility in the powerplay," Suryakumar said. "He took that responsibility and he was amazing. "We were very ahead in the powerplay. There was a little bit of slump between [overs] 7-15, but that's the beauty of T20 cricket."

The Premadasa pitch was so tacky that Pakistan used 18 overs of spin, but the two overs of pace from Shaheen Afridi cost 31 runs. India's seamers made a bigger impact in the first two overs of their defence of 175, with Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya combining to dismiss Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and Agha. From 13 for 3 in two overs, there was no way back for Pakistan.

"I think they bowled tremendously well," Kishan said of Bumrah and Hardik. "When I was batting [and] when Shaheen was bowling, I didn't feel like the ball was doing much for the pace bowlers. But at the same time looking at them bowl two beautiful overs... so, yeah it was a plus point for us and especially we know how Jassi [Jasprit Bumrah] can bowl whether he has a new ball in his hand and whether he's bowling in the death overs. Credit goes to Hardik Panya for keeping it on the tight areas, bowling what we planned before the game and executing his plans pretty well."