Picture Credit : BCCI
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed that Ishan Kishan is set to bat at Number 3 in the opening T20I match against New Zealand. Due to the injury of Tilak Varma, a spot opened up at three and the Indian management has preferred to slot in another left hand batter. The other option would have been Shreyas Iyer who was named as a replacement. But with Shreyas not in the original World Cup squad yet it made more sense to give Ishan Kishan a go at that spot.
Speaking at pre-match press conference ahead of the first T20I, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav said “Ishan will bat at No. 3, as he is in our World Cup team, and we picked him first, so it’s his responsibility and his turn to play. He has been doing well in domestic cricket, and he has not played for the Indian team for a year-and-a-half. And since we have picked him in the World Cup squad, I feel he deserves to play. If it were a question of No. 4 or 5, we may have thought differently. Unfortunately, Tilak isn’t here, and I think Ishan is the best bet at No. 3.”
Ishan’s last T20I was in November 2023 against Australia and he is coming back to the India side after more than two years. Ishan Kishan has been in splendid form in the SMAT and led Jharkhand to a title so he will be hoping to make an impact.
India probable Playing XI 1st T20I vs New Zealand: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav ©, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy
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