Kishan unfurls his strengths to fuel India's triumph

'Obviously it's disappointing to miss a hundred but I think 93 was a big contribution to the team. It was very important to give the momentum to the team and keep the team in the zone so that there's less pressure on the next batters.'

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Flamboyant Indian batter Ishan Kishan, who missed his maiden international century by seven runs, feels there is no need to rotate strike when one can "hit sixes effortlessly".

The 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, who is playing as a specialist batter at No 3 in the ongoing ODI series against South Africa, smashed an 84-ball 93 to set up India's 279-run chase before Shreyas Iyer completed the formalities with an unbeaten 113 from 111 balls.

"Some players have the strength to rotate the strike, my strength is to hit sixes. I hit sixes effortlessly and not many can do that. If I do the job by hitting sixes, there's no need to think about rotating the strike much," Kishan said after the match.

"If your strength is hitting sixes then go for it, what's the need of rotating the strike just for the sake of it. But yes, there will be times when rotating the strike would be key with wickets falling at the other end," Kishan said.

"Obviously rotation is very important. Seven runs, I could have taken in singles and gone for the century but I never go into a zone where I've to play for myself. If I think of my individual score, when representing my country, then I'm letting down the fans."

Ishan also missed a hundred in IPL 2020 when the Mumbai Indians opener got out for 99 in their chase of 202 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

"We needed five off two balls and I got out for 99 in the IPL. If I thought about rotating the strike, then it would have been difficult to win."

"Obviously it's disappointing to miss a hundred but I think 93 was a big contribution to the team. It was very important to give the momentum to the team and keep the team in the zone so that there's less pressure on the next batters," he said.

Kishan, who played the last edition's T20 World Cup in the UAE, was overlooked for the upcoming edition on the back of an ordinary season in this year's IPL.

"Obviously it feels bad when you are not part of the side for a big tournament like the World Cup."

"But I think I’ve some shortcomings that selectors would have noticed, so it's about improving myself."

India bounced back on Sunday to level the series 1-1 after their reversal in Lucknow where they lost the first ODI by nine runs.

With Rohit Sharma and Co already in Australia for the T20 World Cup, Indian fringe players are in action against the Proteas in the three-match ODI series.

"I heard people say that we are the B-side, we are not so much capable of beating a full-strength South Africa side. I heard these comments and we're really upset about it, so we wanted to play our A-game today.

"We lost the first game and we wanted to win this badly so that we can give a fight in the next one," he said.

Talking about his 161-run partnership with Iyer, he said: "They had two left-arm spinners, so as a left-hander it was for me to take chances against their bowlers.

"I've played so many matches here and know the wicket very well. I knew it would slow down in the second innings, but after playing Keshav Maharaj I knew this wicket did not have much on offer. We just wanted to take our chances before the ball got old."