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It was July 10, 2019 when legendary India player MS Dhoni donned the Indian jersey for the last time. The following year saw the wicketkeeper-batsman calling time on his international career. From years before Dhoni's retirement to date, several players, including the likes of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul in recent, have tried to fill in the void left by the Ranchi lad. However, none of them could really fit into Dhoni's shoes.
What made things further tough for the competing players was the fact that the fans and critics always compared them to Dhoni. To some extent Rishabh Pant has started following the legendary finisher's footsteps in terms of batting, however, wicketkeeping is a department where Pant still needs some more time. Amid all this, another star wicketkeeper in Ishan Kishan has come to the fore.
Ishan, who got an opportunity to feature for India in the ongoing Sri Lanka series, seems to have grabbed the opportunity with both the hands. Not only with the batting, but his wicketkeeping skills also seem to have impressed the spectators. During India's first T20I against Sri Lanka on Sunday, Ishan created a 'Deja vu' moment for the fans of Dhoni and Indian cricket. The southpaw stumped Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka almost in the same way as Dhoni had cleaned up Sabbir Rahman in a 2016 T20 World Cup match - a game that has been etched into the history books for the way India won it.
Here is Ishan Kishan's stumping:
Here is that of Dhoni from 2016 T20 World Cup:
India beat Sri Lanka by 38 runs in 1st T20I
Talking about the game on Sunday, India lost the toss and were thus invited to bat first. Powered by Suryakumar Yadav's 50 off 34 and Shikhar Dhawan's 46 off 36, India posted a competitive 164/5 in the stipulated quota of 20 overs. Ishan too contributed with a valuable 20* off 14 balls. In reply, Sri Lanka had a good start but wickets falling at regular intervals saw them getting bundled out for 126 in 18.3 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned a 4-for while Deepak Chahar took 2 for 24. Krunal Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal claimed a wicket each.