Kishan makes it happen for himself and for India

At one point during India's chase against New Zealand in the second T20I in Raipur, a staggering, almost scary stat appeared on the TV screen: Ishan Kishan, balls per boundary 2.

Kishan had faced 29 balls on Friday and hit 15 boundaries. So it was actually better than 2, more like 1.93. If that was not incredible enough, how about this: he had done that after India were reduced to 6 for 2 chasing 209. Still not impressed? Kishan later said he was looking "not to take any risk".

He went on to make 76 off 32 balls, helping India complete their joint-highest successful chase in just 15.2 overs. By the end of his innings, though, his balls-per-boundary ratio had worsened to 2.13 - he failed to hit a boundary off the two balls he faced between that stat appearing and his dismissal. What a shame.

Kishan's was not the only astonishing knock of the night. In fact, India captain Suryakumar Yadav outscored him with 82 not out off 37 balls, but it was Kishan who broke the back of the chase.

He walked in at the fall of Sanju Samson's wicket in the opening over and was yet to open his account when Abhishek Sharma holed out for a first-ball duck. But he chose to counterattack. In the third over, Zak Foulkes did a Steven Finn by accidentally dislodging the bails in his delivery stride and Kishan, well, he did a Kishan: sent the ball to the boundary, courtesy a cut shot. The free hit arrived after two wides. Kishan bludgeoned it through mid-off for four more. In the second half of the over, he hit another four and his first six of the night.

There was no respite for New Zealand after that. Jacob Duffy tried to bowl wide outside off stump, a ploy India had used to good effect earlier in the match. But Kishan stretched and hit the ball through extra cover for four, his bottom hand coming off the handle to provide the extension.

In the previous game, Mitchell Santner had decided against bowling himself or Ish Sodhi for the 20th over with a left-hand batter, Rinku Singh, on strike. Here, after his seamers were taken apart, his hand was forced. He brought himself on for the fifth over and started with two dots. But then Kishan decided to throw everything at it. On the next ball, he swung so hard that the bat came off his hands and landed near square leg.

The outfield was so dewy that he had to change his bat. There was no change in fortunes for New Zealand, though; Kishan dispatched the next three balls to the boundary. He was scoring at such a rapid pace that he reached his half-century inside the powerplay, off just 21 balls.

When Sodhi bowled a slider wide outside off, Kishan reverse-hit him over short third for four. Three balls later, the legspinner deceived him in the air. Having stepped out early, Kishan was nowhere near the pitch of the ball. But he adjusted and pulled it for a flat six.

All this while, Suryakumar barely had strike. When the century stand came up in the ninth over, his contribution was 19 off 13; Kishan's was 76 off 30.

After Abhishek's wicket, ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster gave New Zealand an 86.09% chance of winning. By the time Sodhi dismissed Kishan, the needle had swung to 90.63% in India's favour. They needed 81 from 65 balls, which they got at a gallop.

Before Kishan walked back, Suryakumar gave him not a pat on the back but a big hug. "I have never seen anyone bat [like that]," he said at the post-match presentation. "After 6 for 2, batting that way, ending the powerplay around 67, 70 [75], it was incredible. This is what we want from our batters - go out there, express themselves, be happy in their own space."

Talking about his innings, Kishan said: "I felt very good in the middle. I was able to connect from ball one, so I just backed myself. I had the feeling that if I just played good shots, I would make it happen for the team.

"Sometimes you know you are batting well - it's just that you have to be in a good headspace, try to watch the ball and play good shots. We were just looking not to take any risk, not to go cross-batted. But yeah, I was looking to score as many runs as we could in the powerplay because when you are chasing 208 [209], you have to get runs in the powerplay."

Before this series, Kishan had last played for India in November 2023. It seemed the selectors had moved on. But his performance in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s - 517 runs in ten innings at a strike rate of 197.32 - put him back in contention.

"I just asked myself one question: can I do it again or not?" he said of his time in the wilderness. "I knew I could bat through the innings and play good shots. But I needed to get some runs somewhere to answer my question.

"So I was just looking to score runs. Sometimes it is important to do it for yourself so that you can answer your questions: how are you batting and are you capable of playing for India? That's why it was important for me to play domestic cricket and get runs."

Kishan not only answered himself but also sent a message to the selectors. When they needed a back-up wicketkeeper for the T20 World Cup who could bat in the top order, they could not look past him.

He got a chance to start this series because Tilak Varma was ruled out of the first three games. It's only one knock so far but if Kishan could make similar impact in the upcoming matches as well, he would be a first-XI contender come the World Cup. If Tilak doesn't recover in time, he could continue at No. 3. And if Samson finds himself short of runs, he could open too. Either way, it will be a scary prospect for the opposition. As scary as a balls-per-boundary ratio of 2.