Watch: At the Queen’s Park Oval Test match, Ishan Kishan hit Kemar Roach for a one-handed six a la Rishabh Pant to bring up a maiden Test fifty.

India had been struggling to find a replacement for the injured Pant. After trying out the uncapped KS Bharat for five Test matches – all against Australia – they brought in yet another uncapped cricketer, Ishan Kishan, for the Test matches in the West Indies.

Having won the first Test by an innings, India made 438 and bowled out the West Indies for 255 in the second. With rain predicted, Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (38 in 30 balls) and Rohit Sharma (57 in 44) raced away to add 98 in 71 balls in a record-breaking stand.

Kishan walked out to join Shubman Gill at 102-2. He lofted Jomel Warrican for two fours, one on either side of the tea interval, and lofted Kemar Roach over his head for another.

As Rohit kept making appearances in the pavilion, visibly ready to declare, Kishan braced himself to switch gears. A top-handed lofted shot off Kemar Roach soared over the cover fielder and landed on the rope.

The umpire signalled six, and Kishan reached 44. He hit the next ball over long-on for six, to bring up his fifty, India’s joint-fastest against the West Indies, off 33 balls. Rohit declared a ball later, setting the West Indies 365.

Kishan’s shot invoked memories of Pant, who often hit one-handed sixes. Kishan’s bat bore the words RP17 – just like Pant’s bat.

Chasing 365, the West Indies went to stumps on 76-2.

After play, Kishan, who was batting with a bat inscribed with ‘RP17’, spoke of how Pant had influenced his game ahead of this tour. “I was at NCA (National Cricket Accademy) before coming here. I was practicing there and Rishabh was also there for his rehab,” he said. “He had a few points for me, the bat position and everything, because he had seen me playing with him, we have played together so many matches since Under-19, so he knows how I play, what my mindset is, so he just helped me a little bit with my bat position and everything. Otherwise, I think I also wanted someone to tell me a few things about my batting and it was a great time for him to come and chat with me and really thankful for that.”

Watch Ishan Kishan smash a one-handed six to reach his fifty:

That's a smashing way to bring your maiden Test 50*@ishankishan51

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.#INDvWIonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/WIFaqpoGiD

— FanCode (@FanCode) July 23, 2023