Despite scoring a double hundred, Ishan Kishan was left out as India kicked off the new year against Sri Lanka with a three match ODI series. Kishan, who played the third and final ODI match against Bangladesh in Chattogram, scored a double century and helped India post a mammoth 440-plus score. As a result, they managed to eke out a consolation win after losing the series to their neighbors. When another neighbor Sri Lanka came calling, fans were shocked to see Kishan in the dugout.
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However, skipper Rohit Sharma has confirmed that Kishan will get his chance against New Zealand in the first ODI in Hyderabad. Albeit, he will have to bat in the middle order. With KL Rahul being absent, Kishan will get the wicket-keeping gloves and will bat in top four. This shouldn’t be a problem as he has batted in the middle order three times.
“Ishan will be batting middle-order, I’m glad that he can get a run here after a fine knock against Bangladesh,” the captain said on Tuesday.
Ishan became the fourth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Rohit Sharma to hit a double century in ODIs. The wicketkeeper-batter completed the feat in the final ODI against Bangladesh, which saw him hit 210 off 131 balls.
Meanwhile, sharing his thoughts on the new challenge, the skipper noted: “Going into the series it’s pretty simple for us, we just want to keep improving as a team. Great opposition, great challenge, we can challenge ourselves to come out and achieve what we want to as a team. New Zealand is a very good team, they’re coming off a great series victory against Pakistan, so obviously they are playing some good cricket.”
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KS Bharat, who is the second wicketkeeper in the squad, is likely to warm the bench as he is more of a cover in Rahul’s absence.
In a World Cup year, every game is significant and India would aim to build on the gains from the Sri Lanka series even though the performance of their opponents was underwhelming to say the least.
The big takeaways for India from the Sri Lanka series was the performance of the top three and Mohammed Siraj’s ability to pick up wickets with the new ball.
Like Gill and Virat Kohli, Rohit also looked in sublime touch with scores of 83 and 42 but would like to get a big hundred which has also eluded him for some time now.
Kohli though is back to scoring hundreds at will and looks hungrier for runs more than ever, which should set alarm bells ringing in the New Zealand camp.
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