Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday confirmed that young India batter Ishan Kishan will open the batting along with him in the ODI series opener against West Indies in Ahmedabad.
Ishan was added to the ODI squad along with Mayank Agarwal after a Covid-19 outbreak hit the Indian cricket team earlier this week with three main players - senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, reserve opener Ruturaj Gaikwad and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer - testing positive. However, with Mayank still in isolation and KL Rahul unavailable for the opening match, Ishan, who was transferred from the South Africa ODI series bio-bubble, will be available for the first match against West Indies.
“Ishan [Kishan] is the only option. He will open. Mayank [Agarwal] is still in isolation. Some rules in place, players travelling need to be put into quarantine. [Ishan opens] Unless there's an injury,” said Rohit in the pre-match press conference.
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Ishan had made his ODI debut in the tour of South Africa last July where he scored 59 and 1 in the two matches he played, both batting at No.3. While he has opened for India, in T20Is last year, even scoring a half-century against England in Ahmedabad, and quite a few times for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians as well, but he is yet to open in ODI cricket.
{{/usCountry}}Ishan had made his ODI debut in the tour of South Africa last July where he scored 59 and 1 in the two matches he played, both batting at No.3. While he has opened for India, in T20Is last year, even scoring a half-century against England in Ahmedabad, and quite a few times for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians as well, but he is yet to open in ODI cricket.
{{/usCountry}}With Dhawan and Ga absent and Rahul likely to take the middle-order position when he returns, the opener in Ahmedabad will provide a perfect opportunity for the youngster to show his worth and try and stake a claim as India look for a perfect combination for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
India on Sunday will become the first ever international side to feature in 1000 ODIs. Currently at 999 matches, India have won 518 matches and lost 431 times.
"There is not a lot that we need to change, we just need to adapt to different situations of the game. We have played good ODI cricket over the course of the past few years, one series loss is not the reason for us to panic. South Africa series was a great learning curve for us in terms of we did not do collectively as a team," said Rohit.
"It is always important that everyone comes together. Going forward, the role clarity of certain individuals is important in the squad. If we can talk to the individuals about it, then we can get what we want at a different points from different individuals," he added.