India, June 18 -- On a day when everyone was struggling with hot and humid conditions at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, sparkling centuries by skipper Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan felt quite pleasant.

Carrying his good run with the willow, Gill underlined his potential and leadership, but Kishan's second ODI hundred remained most entertaining. His knock against Afghanistan, arrived not as a flash of fleeting brilliance but as the latest milestone in a deliberate, well-charted ascent.

The boundary-laden innings underlined Kishan's dual value as an explosive initiator who can seize the momentum early and a maturing batter increasingly capable of constructing an innings when conditions demand restraint.

As India eyes the...