India vs West Indies, 2nd Test: ‘Go and play your game’ – Virat Kohli’s words to Ishan Kishan when he went out to bat at number four | Cricket News

Following his impressive half-century against West Indies in the second Test, India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan expressed gratitude to Virat Kohli for supporting him to bat at number four.

As a result of India’s dominating performance, the visitors set a formidable target of 365 runs for West Indies to chase. On Monday, during the final session of day four in Port of Spain, the Windies lost two wickets, which made their run-chase more challenging.

“It was really special (the half-century). I knew what the team needed from me. Everyone backed me. Virat backed me and told me ‘go and play your game’. Let us hope we will finish the game tomorrow. It was Virat bhai who took the initiative and told me that I should go in. There was a slow left-armer who was bowling. It was a good call for the team. Sometimes you need to take these calls,” said Kishan after the day’s play.

“It was one of my dreams to get into the whites. I just wanted to go in and hit every ball. I am mostly thankful to my parents who have always supported me.”
He said the team was looking at setting a target close to 370 without taking much time, which required the batsmen to score at a quick pace.
“We had the plan that we will play 10-12 overs after the rain break and score 70-80 runs. We wanted a 370-380 target…It should be a good game tomorrow. We need to hit the right areas and (it will be) important to get early wickets.

At the close of day four in Port of Spain on Sunday, the Windies had lost two wickets, with Tagenarine Chanderpaul (24*) and Jermaine Blackwood (20*) at the crease, reaching 76/2 at stumps.
In their second innings, India declared at 181/2, with Kishan (52* off 34 balls) and Shubman Gill (29*) remaining unbeaten. Openers Rohit Sharma (57) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (38) once again set a solid platform of 98 runs.
Earlier in the match, in response to India’s first innings total of 438, the Windies were bowled out for a 255.
(With agency inputs)