Former India batter Virender Sehwag has said that India will not include Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in their first-choice batting line-up.
India have confirmed their final 15-member squad for the ODI World Cup and have selected a strong batting line-up. India have fixed members in Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the top-order. Alongside the top three, India have multiple options in the middle-order where they have Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav to chose from.
Speaking to Cricbuzz ahead of the World Cup, Virender Sehwag said that Ishan Kishan, despite his sensational form, will not be named in the first XI, and KL Rahul will be the preferred member of the side.
“At No. 6 and 7 KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya will be there. So Suryakumar won’t be there at either of those positions. There is No. 5 though. But if Hardik Pandya is your sixth bowler then Rahul will bat at No. 5, and Hardik at No. 6, then comes the bowlers. We thought Ishan Kishan could fit in somewhere in the line-up, but that hundred which Shreyas Iyer scored, if he plays at No. 4 then it will be Iyer, Rahul and Hardik at No. 4, 5 and 6 respectively,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
KL Rahul captained India in 2 matches of India’s bilateral series against Australia and performed well. The batter had been out with injury for a long time but has made a tremendous comeback into the Indian team.
Speaking on the selection of benched players, Sehwag said that Kishan will be preferred over Suryakumar Yadav.
“Now it depends on how India look at this combination, whether they feel Hardik will certainly bowl 10 overs because that will give India an extra bowler. So then Suryakumar cannot fit in there and even if there is a slot, then Ishan should be picked ahead because he is a left-hander,” Sehwag concluded.
