‘He will be a welcome addition to the national squad:’ Former chief selector MSK Prasad backs youngster to be future India wicketkeeper

If the recently-concluded IPL has proven anything, it is that a certain young wicketkeeper is an extremely capable candidate to emerge as an option behind the stumps for the Indian cricket team in the time to come.

Ever since MS Dhoni’s retirement, the debate surrounding the next wicketkeeper of the Indian cricket team has only gained further steam. The likes of Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson are the two names that come to mind as far as India’s options in limited-overs cricket is concerned, while Wriddhiman Saha seems to be up the pecking order in Tests. However, Pant’s dip in form has seen him being dropped from ODIs and T20Is with KL Rahul performing wicketkeeping duties since India’s home series against Australia in January this year.

File image of MSK Prasad. (Getty Images)

But if the recently-concluded IPL has proven anything, it is that Ishan Kishan is an extremely capable candidate to emerge as an option behind the stumps for the Indian cricket team in the time to come. Kishan had a solid season with winners Mumbai Indians, scoring 516 runs, the franchise’s leading run-scorer and former BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad has backed the 22-year-old to be a ‘welcome addition to the team’.

“It’s really fantastic to see this pocket dynamite in action. He had a fantastic IPL. Batting at No. 4 and later opening the innings, shows his adaptability and temperament. His ability to switch gears as per the team’s requirements will definitely place him as a hot contender for the wicketkeeper-batsman slot for Team India in both T20s & ODIs in times to come,” Prasad was quoted as saying by Times of India.

“If he can keep wickets well and bat the same way he did in the IPL, he will be a welcome addition to the national squad.”

One of the biggest positive for the four-time champions seems to have been the coming of age of Kishan. Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody had recently stated that after the success of this season, Kishan the wicketkeeper is sure to enter the reckoning and even though he hasn’t kept wickets for MI this year with de Kock performing wicketkeeping duties, it doesn’t take anything away from the fact that the 22-year-old is a ‘real package’ and one of the most promising keeper batsmen in India currently.

“We’ll start hearing about him for sure. He has been in the shadows and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be under the spotlight now because we’re only seeing the batting that he has to offer,” Moody said on ESPNCricinfo. “We do know that he can keep as well. He doesn’t need to keep in that Mumbai side so he’s the real package. The other thing is that he can open the batting and also looks comfortable batting in the middle and that’s quite rare for a young player to have that sort of open mind and flexibility.

“I did listen to an interview that he did couple of games ago. He was talking about how he was pretty chilled about the fact that opens or bats at 4 or 5, it didn’t matter to him. He was quite happy to play whatever role that was required. That maturity in itself was quite significant.”