COLOMBO, Aug. 10 -- Fourteen months separated Ishan Kishan's last significant international innings from the moment he walked out at R. Premadasa Stadium to face Pakistan in the group stage of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. The intervening period had included a form crisis, a public dispute with the BCCI over match fees, and a recall that had split opinions about whether a player who had burned bridges with the national setup could return without friction. By the third over, none of it mattered.

Kishan put Shaheen Shah Afridi over covers for six off the first ball that gave him width. India went on to post 175 for 7. Pakistan were dismissed for 114. The margin was 61 runs, the largest India had beaten Pakistan by at a T20 World Cup. I...