The youthful Indian side under skipper Hardik Pandya’s leadership has had a wonderful start having won three T20 series so far, two out of them since the T20 World Cup, however, the batting apart from Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t been spectacular. The emphasis and the criticism are progressively mounting on the openers as Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill, who had been preferred at the top, haven’t returned good scores. However, as has been seen in the past, the administration of the team, led by coach Rahul Dravid, maintains confidence in the starting lineup, and one or two setbacks have little bearing on the player’s chances.
Both Kishan and Gill are coming off of double centuries in one-day internationals, but they haven’t been able to duplicate that magic in the shorter format.
Kishan has received a longer rope specifically, but his results have not been good. Kishan has only allowed 199 runs, at an average of 15.30 and a strike rate of 106.41, in the previous 15 innings. Kishan has scored 63 runs in five games in 2023 at an average of 12.60, with his most recent outing being a struggle on the Lucknow pitch for 19 runs (32).
Sanju Samson’s knee injury against Sri Lanka and Rishabh Pant’s anticipated extended absence from the game has given Kishan a longer rope. However, how long that rope lasts may depend on Kishan’s performance in the series finale against New Zealand on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.
The wicket-keeper hitter hasn’t scored a single fifty this season, according to a list of Kishan’s scores in the last 15 games posted by a fan. The series opener versus Sri Lanka had a 37 as the highest score during this time.
Nitish Rana, a left-handed batsman for the Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders, has interestingly liked the tweet. Rana’s first and only national call-up occurred in 2021 during India’s white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, and even though he tweeted incoherently to express his displeasure when the squads for the South Africa series and Sri Lanka series were revealed last year, Rana hasn’t played for India since.
If the management goes to that degree, Samson will probably replace Kishan on the T20 side now that he is fully healthy. Even though Prithvi Shaw will be sitting on the bench on Wednesday, the club may still look for a change at the top.
