With Shikhar Dhawan no longer in the reckoning, India has backed the idea of two right-handers – Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill – at the top of the order in ODI cricket. Furthermore, with no KL Rahul (personal reasons) and Shreyas Iyer (back injury) in the squad for New Zealand ODIs, there is a good chance for players like Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav to grab their chances.
Kishan had scored a magnum opus knock of 210 runs in the third ODI against Bangladesh. However, as Shubman Gill has performed consistently in the 50-overs format, Kishan could not get his chance against Sri Lanka whereas SKY could only play in the third game of the series.
Meanwhile, Kishan batted at number four in the first ODI against New Zealand but he was dismissed after scoring only five runs. Manjrekar has suggested Ishan Kishan should open the innings with Rohit Sharma whereas Shubman Gill should bat at Virat Kohli’s designated position, the number three. Thus, the former Mumbai batter wants Virat Kohli to demote himself in the batting order.
Kohli had batted at number four in ODIs against Sri Lanka in 2014 to accommodate Ambati Rayudu in the final XI.
“It’s going to be still tricky. One guy is going to be really upset. I have got an idea to sort this mess out. Have Shubman Gill bat at No. 3, he seems like he can handle that position, and then Virat Kohli sacrifices his No. 3 for a No. 4. He has done that before to Ambati Rayudu once, many years back against Sri Lanka. So that could be a way to sort it out. Ishan Kishan after his double hundred, left and right-handed combination at the top is not such a bad idea,” Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
It is expected that India wouldn’t make any changes to their batting order in the second ODI against the Kiwis. The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had confirmed that Ishan Kishan will bat in the middle order for the team in the series against the Blackcaps.
The second ODI will be played on Saturday in Raipur.
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