With the first-choice India T20I openers from the ongoing five-match series against South Africa at home, it is a prime opportunity for the likes of Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad to claim the third opener’s slot which gets activated when Rohit Sharma or KL Rahul is unavailable.
Read also: India legend questions Pant’s decision not to fully utilize Chahal’s quota of overs
The series will play a major role in widening the pool of players from which the Indian selectors will finalize the squad for the ICC Men’s. T20 World The cup to be played in Australia later this year. They will likely take three openers with them and with the first two slots already occupied, the vacant third slot is set to take over.
the former India Opener and now a commentator Aakash Chopra thinks Ishaan is well ahead of the race and gave an example of his ability during the 1st T20I when he scored 76 off 48 with the help of 11 fours and three sixes.
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“Ishaan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad are not first-choice openers, so the race for the third opener is between them,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel on Friday. “Right now, Ishaan is very much ahead in this. He started slow but his intention was right. He was a bit lucky too but he kept on attacking. He was not worried about his milestones. He got out in the over too, Ishaan had already scored a lot of runs.
While Ishaan scored a scintillating half-century, Gaikwad got off to a good start but failed to convert it into a big total as he was dismissed for 23 off 15 balls.
Hardik Pandya, who made a comeback in India after a stellar performance IPL In 2022, he showed a glimpse of his old self as he smashed an unbeaten 31 off 12 with two fours and three sixes.
“Welcome Hardik Pandya, you are an asset. He scored 31 runs out of 12. Then Rishabh Pant also played his role. The Indian team had enough runs,” said Chopra.
However, Chopra criticized Pant’s decision to not bowl the full quota of overs from legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal. He said, ‘It was a mistake not to bowl four overs of Chahal. Even if it is a small stadium and in the absence of dew, it should have been continued,” he said.
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