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T20 World Cup: 'He takes a few balls to get going' - Atherton on whether India should open with Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul
T20 World Cup: When asked if India can do with a youngster like Ishan in their XI, to which Atherton did not ignore the fact that the 23-year-old is indeed a dynamic batsman.
During the post-match press conference following India versus Pakistan T20 World Cup match, captain Virat Kohli was asked by a reporter if Ishan Kishan could have played and opened the innings ahead of Rohit Sharma. The question left Kohli puzzled as he gave the reporter a piece of his mind, saying 'if you want controversy, please let me know before so that I can answer accordingly'.
Having said that, going by the form Ishan is in, it might be a tough call for India to leave him out of the XI. Ishan has scored three consecutive half-centuries in his last three T20 matches and seems to be in good nick, which is probably why during a discussion between former England batsmen Michael Atherton and Rob Key, the topic of the possibility of someone like Ishan coming into the mix of things popped up Key asked Atherton if India can do with a youngster like Ishan in their XI, to which Atherton did not ignore the fact that the 23-year-old is indeed a dynamic batsman.
"It was interesting to me. In India's warm-up game against England, they rested Rohit. He obviously is a given. And they had Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul at the top of the order. I don't know whether it was a shoot off or not. Ishan outscored KL Rahul but what was interesting was that KL was faster out of the blocks in the Powerplay in that game. Ishan Kishan eventually got going and caught up," Atherton said on Sky Cricket.
Having said that, the former England captain feels the opening combination of KL Rahul and Rohit is 'the right thing', even if the India vice-captain can be slow to start off at times and added that it would be foolish to think that India’s chances of winning the T20 World Cup have gone up in smokes following one loss.
"But if you think of how Rohit plays… he sometimes takes a few balls to get going. I think they are doing the good thing by going with KL and Rohit at the top of the order. I think that is the right thing. And you can’t write off India after one bad game," Atherton added.
