Mumbai, May 23 (IANS) After wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan powered Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a convincing 55-run victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in a run-fest IPL 2026 match in Hyderabad on Friday, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan praised the keeper-batter for developing into a more complete batter.

Kishan slammed a stunning 79 off 46 deliveries at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, guiding SRH to a massive 255/4 before restricting RCB to 200/4. Speaking on JioHotstar, Pathan said Kishan’s responsible batting at No. 3 has become one of the strengths of SRH this season.

“The improvement that Ishan Kishan has shown throughout the season and the way he has taken responsibility on different surfaces and in different match situations… Now at No. 3 he is playing a very vital role for Sunrisers Hyderabad and looked like a much complete batter” said Pathan.

Pathan pointed out Kishan’s progress against spin bowling, an area where he earlier struggled: “He has been phenomenal against spin, especially on the off-side, and the minute you add that with his strength through the on-side, it’s extremely difficult to contain him and at one point in the innings, he looked in complete control.”

SRH’s innings was built on explosive hitting right from the start, as Abhishek Sharma smashed 56 off just 22 deliveries in the Powerplay and Travis Head contributed with a 16-ball 26. While Kishan held the innings together in the middle overs, Heinrich Klaasen took over to blast a rapid-fire 51 off just 24 deliveries to further accelerate the scoring.

Pathan singled out Klaasen’s innings for his ability to identify Josh Hazlewood’s vulnerability and attack him aggressively: “What stood out in Heinrich Klaasen’s innings was his awareness to the situation of the game and he identified a bowler in Josh Hazlewood that was feeling the pressure and Josh hasn’t been at his best in the last couple of games, so Heinrich Klaasen jumped at it”.

The former India bowler believes Klaasen’s ability to capitalize on Hazlewood’s mistakes was a clear sign of his current form: “There were certain deliveries which were below Josh Hazlewood’s standards and in particular those full tosses and half volleys which he dispatched away very well but you still needed a batter in sublime form to hit those shots”.

The match also witnessed a heated exchange between Virat Kohli and Travis Head during RCB’s chase and Pathan believes such incidents are natural during intense contests: “Virat Kohli loves playing cricket with that aggressive Australian way of being intense, with banter, with competitiveness and with emotion out there on the field and at that time, he was challenging Travis Head to come out and bowl few balls for not staying as a substituted fielder”.

“Incidents like this are a very normal part of the game of cricket in highly competitive games, especially when the two sides are vying for a top place on the points table. At the end of it all, that was just the kind of competitive intensity one would expect” Pathan concluded.

Despite their loss, RCB finished at the top of the league standings on net run rate while SRH’s comprehensive victory boosted their morale going into the playoffs.

–IANS

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