The T20 Cricket World Cup in 2022 is approaching fast. Slated in October-November 2022 in Australia, preparations are in full swing for all the participating teams. Even as India is preparing to play a Test in Edgbaston starting from 1st July, the South Asian nation’s T20 squad is parallelly playing Ireland in a two-match T20I series. This T20I series under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya is a test bed for India T20I squad to finalize the final 15 who would be on the flight to Melbourne later this year. One of the Indian cricket team's concerns is to finalize the opening pair. The pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul is tried and tested. However, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan are also in the fray. In this debate, former England spinner Graeme Swann has backed Ishan Kishan as the country's first-choice opening batter for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“His (Ishan Kishan's) target is to be the opener in the World Cup. There's no player I know who wants to get there as backup. His stats speak for themselves. It's interesting that he's had such a good time at the international level, didn't have a good IPL by his standards,” Graeme Swann told a media network.
“There will be no way now that he will be thinking ‘I'm not the backup' he would be saying, “I wanna get in there as the No.1 choice,” he added.
“He will have to keep pushing. Virat Kohli has to come back, and Rohit Sharma has to come back. Shikhar Dhawan was one of the captains of the side not too long ago, which is nowhere in the scene. With the Indian cricket team, I keep saying it, things change in a couple of months. You bring in something special to the team, and suddenly you start putting pressure on the existing players. Ishan Kishan has the best opportunity as the openers get the best spot to bat in T20s,” The Englishman further said.
Ishan Kishan is in stellar form and has scored more than 400 runs in T20Is in 2022. His scores in his last 6 T20Is are 26, 15, 27, 54, 34, and 76. He has also made the opening spot his own with power-packed performances at the top of the order in the absence of Rohit Sharma during the recent South Africa tour of India.
This is why Graeme Swann believes Ishan Kishan has the talent and form to be India's first-choice opening batter in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
Meanwhile, former India opener Virender Sehwag named his picks for the top three positions in the Indian batting line-up for the T20 World Cup in Australia.
Surprisingly, the Nawab of Najafgarh didn’t include former captain Virat Kohli in his squad for the mega event Down Under in what can be dubbed as a major snub to the 33-year-old India star.
Instead of Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag’s top order comprises Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan as his openers for the competition. KL Rahul, on the other hand, will occupy Virat Kohli’s customary No.3 position.
“India has options aplenty when it comes to hard hitters in T20s. However, I would personally vouch for Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and KL Rahul as the top three batters for the World Cup in Australia,” Virender Sehwag told news agency PTI.
“The right-hand and left-hand combination of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, or for that matter, Ishan and KL Rahul could be quite interesting for the World T20,” he added.
Virender Sehwag’s opening partner Gautam Gambhir too had something similar a few days ago.
“The question is, when KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli return, will the Indian team persist with them? Because you always talk about x-factor and about having a fearless approach. Whether he scores runs or not, he brings in that fearless approach,” said Gambhir on Star Sports.
“Will they be tempted to start with him and Rohit and play KL Rahul in the middle order. But I would want to persist with him in Australian conditions where there will be bouncy wickets and he loves to pull off the backfoot and he hits the length ball very well. I think they should persist with him for this T20 World Cup. If he is in the scheme of things they play him till the World Cup,” he added.
Batting great Sunil Gavaskar and former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, on the other hand, claimed that Ishan Kishan won’t open the innings for India on the bouncy pitches of Australia.
“I would think the opening combination would be, if KL Rahul is fit, then KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
“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,” Graeme Smith concluded.
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