Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 31 (IANS) India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan said the team is eager to see Sanju Samson deliver a strong performance in front of his home crowd as the hosts gear up for the fifth T20I against New Zealand at the Greenfield International Stadium on Saturday

Samson comes into the game on the back of a lean run and he will be eager to break it when playing his first international game in his hometown. “Hundred percent. We got here, he arranged us with a beautiful dinner, very good vibe and it was done with all his heart and we were all there.

“We had a lot of fun and this is a special crowd for him, special ground for him and we all just want him to perform very well today,” said Kishan to broadcasters ahead of the start of India’s innings.

Speaking about missing the last game in Visakhapatnam, Kishan said, “I’m doing absolutely well. It was more like a precautionary thing because looking at the World Cup coming up, sometimes you overdo it in the match and we did not want to take that risk, which actually makes some sense. So, I was just taking it a little easy in the last game to get better and again come back in this last game.”

Kishan has been in smashing form since his return to the T20I team through the ongoing series against New Zealand and he explained about the areas he worked upon when not in the set-up. “I was just keeping it very simple – trying to just play my best cricket, which is possible for me and playing the best cricket as in also means how disciplined you are throughout the game, what’s your match awareness.

“So, I was also looking after those little things, which I used to ignore maybe earlier but these little things helped me a lot and I think it did help my game as well,” he said.

Kishan signed off by saying he takes a lot of batting inspiration from former West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran. “Actually, when it comes to batting, I actually like Nicky Pooran. I love his batting. So, even, you look forward to bat like him when the left-arm spinners are bowling.

“You obviously know that he’s going to take the bowlers 9 out of 10 times. So, that’s the level of consistency he got in his batting and that is something I felt which I was lacking and I’m just trying to get better.”

–IANS

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