The first match of the Indian cricket team in the Asia Cup 2023 which was against the arch-rivals Pakistan got washed out due to rain but it left the Indian team management with some questions and now they have to find the answers real quick as the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 is just a month away.
The toss was won by the Indian team and it decided to bat first, the trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah bowled pretty well as there was time when India had lost their top 4 batters (Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill) at the score of 66 and things looked pretty bad for India at that time. But the youngster Ishan Kishan batted beautifully and played a brilliant knock of 82 runs for which he faced 81 balls and his innings included 9 fours & 2 sixes. He got good support from Hardik Pandya who played sensibly against a lethal attack and scored 87 runs of 90 balls and smashed 7 fours and one maximum in his innings. Both of them stitched 138 runs partnership for the fifth wicket which is the highest against Pakistan by Indian batters in ODIs till now.
In a cricket show, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif and Gautam Gambhir were asked that after such a good show by Ishan Kishan in the match against Pakistan, what the Indian team management will do after KL Rahul gets fit.
Mohammad Kaif states that though Ishan Kishan has played his fourth consecutive half-century knock and seventh overall, he has also performed well against West Indies and he has a double ton to his name as well but he will need to make way for KL Rahul when he comes back as the Karnataka player is a proven match-winner and his numbers are great at the fifth position in batting lineup. Mohammad Kaif strengthens his opinion by saying that Ishan Kishan has both class and talent but he will have to make way for KL Rahul as he was out of the team because of injury and not because of poor form.
Gautam Gambhir didn’t agree with Mohammad Kaif and when the former was asked to give his opinion, he faced Kaif and asked him what more important is – form or name. Kaif was left surprised with the manner in which Gambhir asked a question to him.
Gautam Gambhir further asked Kaif if he would have said the same thing if these four consecutive fifties had been scored by Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. Gambhir further says to Kaif that when a team is preparing for the World Cup, it should not look at the name of the player but at the form of the player because that is what will make the team lift the trophy.
Mohammad Kaif tries to counter Gambhir’s views but the latter goes on to explain his stance as he says that Ishan Kishan has done everything which is needed to become a frontrunner and all these things are getting discussed just because he has played less number of international matches than KL Rahul.
Gautam Gambhir further says that there have been many instances when players didn’t get the chance to make a comeback because the replacement player performed superbly in their place. He added that few players got the chance but there were some who did not and this is reality. Gautam Gambhir strongly favors Ishan Kishan by saying that though KL Rahul has proved himself at number 5 yet the manner in which Ishan Kishan has batted against Pakistan’s lethal attack under pressure leaves no scope for comparison between the two and he deserves to get a chance even after KL Rahul returns to the squad.
As of now, KL Rahul is the primary choice for wicketkeeper-batter and Ishan Kishan has been kept as a wicketkeeping option.
With whom do you agree – Mohammad Kaif or Gautam Gambhir? Let us know your views in this connection.