Team India opener Ishan Kishan smashed 76 off 48 deliveries, tearing apart the South Africa (SA) attack with his clean ball striking in the first game of the home T20I series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday.

Interestingly, Ishan Kishan was woefully out of form in the Indian Premier League and was even slammed by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar for his miserable batting during the elite T20 competition.

“He had a miserable time. Because he had a miserable time. So he just wanted to get out of his misery,” Gavaskar told Star Sports after watching Ishan Kishan's pathetic display in one of the IPL matches.

However, there was no misery from him on Thursday. Ishan Kishan looked scratchy at the start of the Indian innings but subsequently found another gear to put the Rishabh Pant-led outfit on top.

The home team, eventually finished with a score of 211/4 after Ishan Kishan's blistering knock was followed by a couple of cameos from vice-captain Hardik Pandya and skipper Rishabh Pant who made 31 not out of 12 balls and 29 off 16 deliveries respectively.

There were meaningful contributions from Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer too. While Ruturaj Gaikwad made 23 off 15, Shreyas Iyer smacked 36 off 27 balls.

But it was Ishan Kishan who was the star of the night for India and immediately earned plaudits for his sensational knock from the fans on social media.

“Ishan Kishan was trolled mercilessly during IPL 2022 but has wonderfully returned back to form in Blue. The ‘Pocket Dynamo' is back,” an Indian cricket supporter wrote on Twitter.

“Well played, Ishan Kishan – 76 runs from 48 balls including 11 fours and 3 sixes – started the series on a high,” another said.

“Looks like Ishan Kishan saved all his shots for International matches,” a third argued while taking a dig at his form in the IPL.

Meanwhile, a section of Ishan Kishan admirers blamed Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma for his poor numbers in the IPL.

“So, Rohit was the problem for MI. Ishan Kishan was just a scapegoat for Rohit fans,” a fourth claimed.

Yet it was the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that had reserved the richest praise for Kishan.

“Ishan Kishan dazzled & put on an absolute show with the bat!” the Indian board said on the micro-blogging platform.

Despite his dominant display with the bat, Ishan Kishan revealed that the ball wasn't coming nicely onto the bat and it would be difficult for South Africa to chase down India's total on Arun Jaitley Stadium's slow pitch.

“The ball was not coming on easily, 211 is a good score. It was important to keep the shape and you tend to miss it when the ball comes at high pace. I wanted to watch the ball till the last moment and hold my shape. We have to use the powerplay well and the wicket wasn't easy for new batters. My job was to hit the bad balls and keep the bowler under pressure,” he told Star Sports during the innings break.

“On this wicket when I saw the left-arm spinner, I told Iyer that I will take my chances and you can do too. I thought 150 was a good total and now it is important for us to keep the ball in the right areas,” Ishan Kishan added.

Before his innings, ex-India coach Ravi Shastri had voted against his inclusion in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia.

“Now Ishan Kishan comes more in conditions like in India… if you need him at the top of the order to attack, then he could be the man. But in conditions that exist in Australia where you need a finisher at the back, batting at No.6, then on current form, he would be the second keeper. If you see his form now and his maturity and the way he has been finishing games, then you go on the current form,” Ravi Shastri told ESPNcricinfo recently.

The big reason behind Shastri not backing Kishan was that there was no need to have three wicketkeepers in the same team and if at all the Indian cricket team needed a reserve wicketkeeper in Australia, Dinesh Karthik was the man who could do the job for them.

Rishabh Pant who is leading India in the ongoing series against South Africa is the other wicketkeeper besides Ishan Kishan and Dinesh Karthik in the team.

“Just his track record in Australia… given what he has done there, I won’t even think of anyone else except Rishabh Pant. At No. 6… he (Dinesh Karthik) is the second pick. Because Rishabh Pant will bat in the middle order,” Shastri had said when he was asked about who should be India's main wicketkeeper Down Under.