“He Didn’t Look Comfortable…”: Former India Star Underlines Areas Where Ishan Kishan Is Lagging Behind

Ishan Kishan was the top-scorer in the just-concluded India-South Africa T20I series among both the teams. The left-handed opener scored 206 runs in five matches at an average of 41.20. He had a strike-rate of 150.36 and scored two half-centuries as well. However, the position he is playing, is a crowded place in the Indian cricket team in T20Is. There is Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul among others in the openers’ slots. Kishan is also a contender for that slot. Former India pacer Aashish Nehra believes that “numbers don’t tell the whole story” and that Kishan needs to do more.

“Ishan Kishan’s numbers have been good in this series, but numbers don’t always tell the whole story. Even in IPL he had good numbers, he scored over 400 runs. The kind of strike-rate that you want to see, you get that but the consistency won’t be easy for a player like Ishan Kishan, especially in T20Is,” Ashish Nehra said in a discussion on Cricbuzz.

“His game is like that. But whenever he score big runs, it has to be impactful runs. He scored 76 runs in the first game against South Africa, but I remember that that day also we were talking that he didn’t look that comfortable. India had lost that match. He picked up pace in the latter part of the innings. Even in the latter matches, there were runs from his bat but here you are talking about an opener. You would want him to con vert the 20-25 to 60-70. As a player, Ishan Kishan should improve. He is young and has huge scope.”

Speaking during the 5th T20I in Bengaluru, legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar said that the ideal opening partnership in the T20 World Cup would be that of Rohit and Rahul.

“I would think the opening combination would be, if KL Rahul is fit, then KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma,” Gavaskar said when asked about India’s ideal opening partnership in the World Cup.

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith agreed with Gavaskar and said why Kishan, despite his sterling form, won’t pip the two veteran stars in India’s team.

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“I would go with Sunny as well. I think those are two outstanding opening batters. People would be talking about Ishan Kishan, but I think consistently Kl Rahul and Rohit Sharma have done the business and two outstanding batters India will have at the top of the order there,” Smith said.

Ishan Kishan will, of course, get further chances to push his case when India travel to Ireland for the two-match T20I series there.