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'If he continues to play this way, he'll be on that World Cup flight': Gavaskar's big prediction for India youngster
The India youngster has been in red-hot form and Sunil Gavaskar feels the 23-year-old could well be part of India's World Cup squad in Australia.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has weighed in on India's potential squad combination for the T20 World Cup and feels that including four wicketkeepers won't be a bad idea after all. With Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik and Ishan Kishan being the top three keeper batters in the fray, Gavaskar feels the idea of keeping KL Rahul as a back-up for the role shouldn't be discarded.
The reason why Gavaskar feels carrying three reserve keepers might come in handy is because travelling to Australia takes quite the time and that it is always beneficial to have options ready in the time of crisis, if one is to rise. The legendary India opener reckons that Ishan Kishan could be considered in the XI as a reserve opener along with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rahul, all three of who can open the innings for India.
"I think there will certainly be a consideration," Gavaskar said of including Ishan as a back-up opener for T20 World Cup, to Sports Today. "You want somebody who opens the batting as a reserve opener. Also, don’t forget that we are playing in Australia where travel and getting to is not easy. So, for you to have two spare wicketkeepers apart from Rishabh Pant is a huge plus. In fact, three… one I hope will be Dinesh Karthik, other is KL Rahul and then Ishan Kishan."
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Gavaskar gave a recent example of how a team can benefit by having a reserve wicketkeeper batter. With Quinton de Kock out due to a wrist injury, Heinrich Klaasen came in and scored a handsome 81 in the second T20I to guide his side home. As far as Ishan goes, Gavaskar feels the youngster, who has registered scores of 76, 34 and 54 in the three matches so far, could be a strong contender to earn a place in India’s World Cup squad if he can keep of his current form.
"To have these wicketkeepers available would be tremendous. Just see what happened with Quinton de Kock? South Africa had Heinrich Klassen available and he won them the match in Cuttack. In Australia, it will not be easy for a player to reach, so in that case, I would imagine that Ishan Kishan certainly would be in the fray. If he continues batting like this, then he will certainly make a big claim to be on that World Cup flight to Australia," pointed out Gavaskar.
