Ishan Kishan defended India's team selection after the side's four-wicket defeat to England in the 2nd T20I at Old Trafford, Manchester on 5 July, insisting the management had fielded the 'perfect team' and dismissing calls for an off-spinner to be included in the bowling attack.

Match Summary

India posted 190/7 in their allotted overs after electing to bat first, with Ishan Kishan top-scoring on 49, supported by skipper Shreyas Iyer (37) and Abhishek Sharma (43). England, however, chased down the target of 191 in just 19 overs, finishing at 191/6, with Jacob Bethell's unbeaten 76 anchoring a remarkable recovery from 1/2 and 51/3.

The Bishnoi Over That Turned the Match

The decisive blow came in the 17th over, bowled by leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, which conceded 29 runs. Bishnoi finished with figures of 4-0-60-0 — wicketless and expensive — handing England the momentum they needed. Critics and pundits quickly raised the question of whether an off-spinner could have better exploited the conditions in the middle overs, a suggestion Kishan firmly rejected.

'No, I mean, we played for a perfect team, you know. It's just that when you don't win, there are a lot of thoughts coming in, a lot of ifs and buts are coming in. But at the same time, I feel all of them were very good bowlers who have done well in the past, who have made their team win in different situations. Even bowling on very flat tracks and still getting wickets. So, I don't think we could have done anything different looking at the team side,' Kishan said at the post-match press conference.

Kishan Flags the 'Last 20 Runs' Problem

While defending the selection, Kishan acknowledged a recurring pattern in the series — India losing momentum in the backend of their innings and falling 15–20 runs short of what was achievable. The Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter said every batter in the group needs to identify where those additional runs can come from.

'We are all looking to understand what these guys are doing against us. Like, when we play in India, we have more ideas about the wicket. So, here, obviously, every batter needs to understand, as a team, like, where we can get those extra 20 runs, whether it's by scoring boundaries or, because it's a big ground, you need to take those, whether you have to target the gaps,' he said.

Conditions and Context

India sent out 15-year-old opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the second consecutive match, with Kishan slotting in at number three. The series opener had been abandoned without a ball bowled in the second innings after India set 189/7 in a rain-affected game. Kishan acknowledged that England's home advantage gives them a sharper read of pitch and bowling matchups, and said India would study what the hosts are doing better to close the gap.

With the series still alive, India will look to recalibrate their bowling strategy and finish their batting innings more decisively in the matches ahead.