‘Khelne ka mann nahi hai bhai ko’ – Ishan Kishan’s verbal duel with Mayank Markande steals the show

All eyes were on Ishan Kishan ahead of the Duleep Trophy final clash between India Green and India Red that kicked off at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman is seen as one of India’s promises in the post-Mahendra Singh Dhoni era and the observers remained interested in seeing how the script unfolds for him in the match. Kishan had a busy day and it was mostly verbal.

India Green captain Faiz Fazal won the toss and elected to bat first. However, his team had a poor first day which was also disrupted by the elements. In 49 overs that took place during the day, India Green reached 147 but lost eight wickets. Green’s No.8 batsman Mayank Markande was the highest scorer with 32 and he was still at the crease when the bails were withdrawn. And Kishan had a duel with him which was the high point of the day.

Markande came out to bat with Green reeling at 99 for 6 in the 34th over. And soon after, Kishan started targeting him from behind the stumps by talking loudly with the fielders. The stump microphone caught his words that left the commentators in splits.

“His shots won’t go that far. The ball will come before you,” Kishan was heard telling the fielders standing in deep positions as left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate came into bowl at Markande the final over of the day. Even the slip fielder was seen having a laugh over Kishan’s words as did Markande. ‘Khelne ka mann nahi hai bhai ko,’ Kishan added.

‘The batsman in no mood to play today’

Kishan was even heard taunting the batsman, “The gentleman is in no mood to play today.” He even meant that the batsman doesn’t have enough power to clear the boundaries. “He is trying to provoke the batsman,” one of the commentators said, adding that perhaps this is called sledging.

India Red bowlers came up with a strong performance on Day 1 with spearhead Jaydev Unadkat taking 4 wickets for 58 runs. Four other bowlers took a wicket each. It will be interesting to see how early the Red can bowl out the Green and try for a comprehensive lead. The skies are not looking too good in Bengaluru.

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/oxbJxdXK2Y

— Liton Das (@BattingAtDubai) September 4, 2019