Ishan Kishan, who played a match-winning knock against Sri Lanka in the Asian Games semi-final, is not losing sleep over the prospect of facing Pakistan in the gold medal match; however, he was quick to acknowledge the strength of the Sahibzada Farhan-led Green Shirts. The Men in Blue thumped Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the second semi-final to enter the final and have a crack at defending their gold medal from the Hangzhou Games.
The left-handed batter played an unbeaten knock of 80, and his knock on a tricky pitch led to India posting 169/7 in 20 overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma then took two wickets each as Sri Lanka folded up for 45 inside 10 overs, losing the contest by more than 100 runs.
India and Pakistan have played each other just once in men’s cricket this year, with the Men in Blue coming out on top in the Men’s T20 World Cup. Since then, Pakistan have undergone several changes to their squad. In the Asian Games, the team is being led by Farhan, and there’s no presence of Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
“Just keeping it simple, you don’t think so much. We played today, and we know the conditions are not going to be so easy. Especially, they are also a spinner-friendly team,” Kishan told reporters in the post-match press conference.
“At the same time, you know, you just don’t think about what’s going to happen after two days. You just keep calm, you play your shots, you be in the moment and just enjoy those crunch moments,” he added.
Special feeling
2026 has been a solid year for Ishan, and the wicketkeeper-batter continues to go from strength to strength. On a pitch, every other batter struggled to get going, but the left-hander was at his fluent best, hitting both the Sri Lankan pacers and spinners.
The prospect of winning a medal has given Kishan even more motivation, and he cannot wait to get going in the summit clash on Saturday, October 3.
“I was thinking about this, and it does make a difference in your heart, at least, you know, when you’re playing for India, especially when it’s about the medal. And it’s not just about being related to BCCI,” said Kishan.
“It’s always about India here. There are so many flags going around and so many people cheering for you. So you get that feeling inside, though you don’t show it. But yeah, I think you get that feeling like this is a different kind of thing, even if we have a very good side and we have those bowlers, we have those batters. But still, I feel there’s a bit more pressure here, to be very honest,” he added.
The match between India and Pakistan will once again put the spotlight on the relations between the two countries. The players have not been shaking hands with each other since the Asia Cup last year, and it remains to be seen whether the status quo is maintained on Saturday.