Hyderabad, March 23 Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan scored his maiden century of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 in his first match for new franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Sunday.
Reflecting on his unbeaten 47-ball 106, Kishan said he knew of his abilities and was waiting for this knock. Kishan, who scored 320 including a half-century in the last season for Mumbai Indians, was bought by SRH for Rs 11.25 crore, the costliest purchase by the franchise in last year's auction in Jeddah.
"Feels good, it was coming for a while. Wanted to get this last season but happy to get that first hundred. The team has put their faith in me, and I want to do my best for them," Kishan said during the mid-innings break.
The southpaw credited the momentum set by openers Travis Head (67) and Abhishek Sharma (24) in the first three overs of the power-play and the backing from the captain and the management to play such a fearless knock.
"The captain has given us all a lot of freedom and confidence, hats off to the management. When Abhishek and Head started, they gave a lot of confidence to us batters in the dugout. The pitch was looking good and we were just trying to get them under pressure. We need to be on point with the ball and keep it simple. Rajasthan bowlers are good but if we bowl in the right areas and to the plans, we should be good," Kishan added.
Kishan smashed 11 fours and six sixes during his knock as Sunrisers Hyderabad cruised to 286/6 in 20 overs. It was also the second-highest team total in IPL history, one run short of SRH's total against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the last season.
Apart from him, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen contributed cameo knocks of 30 and 34 respectively as Rajasthan's bowling attack looked toothless in the encounter.
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