Ishan Kishan got his maiden opportunity at the international level in the second T20 International against England on Sunday.
He replaced Shikhar Dhawan, who was dropped after failing in the first game.
And the 22-year-old Jharkhand wicket-keeper made sure he made most of his first outing for the national team.
Set 165 for victory, Kishan helped India bounce back after K L Rahul's dismissal in the first over with an attacking approach in the early overs.
He started off with a boundary off the first ball he faced in international T20 cricket and did not look back from that point. He glanced Jofra Archer fine on the leg side for his first four before pulling Sam Curran for another four in the next over.
Kishan made a name for himself in IPL 2020, scoring 516 runs in 14 games -- the most for champions Mumbai Indians, while hitting as many as 30 sixes -- the most in the tournament.
He continued in the same vein on his India debut.
The left-hander showed great cricketing sense to take on Tom Curran in his first over. He launched the pacer's first ball over long-on for a six and then smashed the third ball for a four through the off-side before a cracking pull shot off the last ball for another boundary raised the 50-run stand with Virat Kohli in the sixth over.
The experienced Ben Stokes suffered at the hands of the dashing youngster, who pulled him for a six over square leg in his opening over.
Stokes gifted Kishan (40) a lifeline in the eighth over when he dropped a simple catch off Adil Rashid.
In Rashid's next over Kishan hit the leggie for successive sixes to race to fifty from just 28 balls.
Rashid had something to cheer about at the end as he got Kishan leg before wicket after missing the reverse sweep after a blazing 56 from 32 balls.
His 94-run stand for the second wicket with Kohli put India firmly in control. Kohli took over the proceedings after Kishan's departure as he smashed the hapless English attack all around the park, for an unbeaten 73 from 49 balls.
The youngster will now open the innings in the third T20I with his Mumbai Indian captain Rohit Sharma who returns to the side after being rested for the first two games.
