Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer believes Ishan Kishan has put himself ahead of Shubman Gill in the pecking order for the backup opener slot in ODI format for the team. Kishan played a piece de resistance knock of 210 runs off just 131 balls in the third ODI against Bangladesh at Chhatogram, setting up multiple records.
Kishan was at his absolute best against the Tigers as he took the home team’s bowlers to the cleaners – smashing 24 fours and 10 sixes in his blistering knock. The left-hander had got his opportunity after Rohit Sharma suffered a thumb injury in the second ODI.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has been performing consistently whenever he has got his opportunities in the ODI format. The youngster has scored 687 runs in 15 matches at an average of 57.25 with one century and four half-centuries.
“Ishan Kishan obviously puts himself ahead of Shubman Gill now. I feel a little bit sad for Gill, he was the frontrunner before this innings. He was the third opener in the line after Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan and now he will be in fourth spot. Sometimes you will feel why Gill is not in the squad, there is nothing wrong that he did,” said Jaffer as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Gill also scored 108 runs in three ODI matches against New Zealand. The 23-year-old returned with scores of 50, 45, and 13 against the Kiwis but he wasn’t picked for the ODI series against Bangladesh.
“He did really well in New Zealand and with whatever other opportunities he got. But we have seen in the recent past that a few players miss out and get dropped and this is now going to put them in another dilemma. Who is their third and fourth openers and what to do with Shikhar Dhawan. He is the senior opener and he has had a bad series. They would like to back him due to the kind of record he has. That No.3 and No.4 options for openers will be a question mark,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill is expected to open the innings with KL Rahul in the first Test match against Bangladesh. Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the first Test due to a thumb injury.
The first Test match will be played at Chhatogram on December 14.
India’s updated squad for Bangladesh Tests: KL Rahul (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat.
