Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels that Ishan Kishan has sealed his place in the middle-order of the Indian team after the Asia Cup 2023 campaign. Kishan, who is the lone left-hander in the Indian middle-order at the moment played a match-saving innings vs Pakistan in the group stage of the tournament. The youngster held the innings with Hardik Pandya after India suffered a top-order downfall.
Asia Cup 2023 Final: Scorecard | Highlights
Speaking exclusively to India Today after the Asia Cup Final, Gavaskar said that Kishan would be India’s go-to man now and given that he is a left-hander, he would be preferred over the others.
“Definitely (sealed his spot in middle-order), also gives you a left-handed option in the middle. India don’t have a left-hander at the top 4 and then Hardik Pandya. Ishan Kishan at No. 5 makes a lot of sense,” Gavaskar told India Today.
“This is the beauty of being an opening batter. An opening bat can also slot himself down in the middle-order. It’s not easy the other way around. Ishan Kishan has shown, particularly with the way he kept his composure, the way he handled against Pakistan and got those 80-odd runs shows that he is not somebody who likes to go out and play his shots but he is somebody who applies his mind, reads the situation and plays accordingly,” he further added.
Kishan scored 83 off 81 balls against Pakistan and then in the final against Sri Lanka, came out to open the innings with Shubman Gill and hit 23 off 18 balls that included 3 boundaries.
“He showed admirable patience against the Pakistanis at the start, he made sure the danger was seen away. He hung around with Hardik Pandya and then started to play his shots. That is really a very, very encouraging sign because for somebody as young as him, to show the temperament he showed in that particular game means that he has a bright future ahead of him,” Gavaskar concluded.
Kishan will be in competition with Shreyas Iyer for the middle-order position. Iyer has not batted for India since the game against Pakistan, where he scored 14 runs. Iyer, according to the Indian team has not recovered from the back spasm, suffered ahead of India’s first Super 4 game, and hence has not been up for selection.
