Young India batter Ishan Kishan raced away to a record-smashing knock in the third and final ODI match of the series against Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram as he notched up a double century off just 126 balls. He became the seventh batter in the world to achieve the feat and fourth from India after Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag.
Ishan was never the first-choice player for India’s playing XI. However, regular skipper Rohit Sharma’s thumb injury in the second ODI, which ruled him out of the third match, opened an opportunity for the youngster and he grabbed it with both hands with hope of making a case for himself for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Put to bat first, India lost opener Shikhar Dhawan early in the innings, for just 3 off 8, Ishan then combined with former skipper Virat Kohli in impressive fashion to put up a 200-plus run stand for the second wicket. Kohli, en route put up his 65th half-century score and first in eight ODI innings, while Ishan roared his way to the double century, achieving the massive figure in just 126 balls.
With the feat, which made him the seventh batter in ODIs to score a double century, Ishan shattered West Indies great Chris Gayle’s record for the fastest to 200 in an ODI innings. Gayle had reached the 200-run mark in 138 balls against Zimbabwe in 2015, en route to his knock of 215 in 2015.
His double century also made Ishan the highest run-getter in an innings by a visiting batter in Bangladesh as he pipped Australia’s Shane Watson (185* in 20111) to the feat. He also surpassed former India skipper Sourav Ganguly to become India’s highest individual run-scorer as an opener in a match away from home. Ganguly had scored 183 against Sri Lanka in Taunton in 1999. This is is also now the highest individual score against Bangladesh by any batter in men’s ODI.
Talking about the series, India lost both the first to matches to leave Bangladesh with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the contest.
