Ishan Kishan will bat in the middle order, Indian captain Rohit Sharma announced ahead of his team’s first ODI against New Zealand in Hyderabad. The first match of the three-match series will be played between India and New Zealand in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
“Ishan Kishan will bat in the middle order. I am happy that he is getting this run after that brilliant innings (double hundred) against Bangladesh,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference.
_ sound _#TeamIndia captain @ImRo45 fits into the groove next to #INDvNZ ODI series opener _ _ pic.twitter.com/NR6DaK56mg— BCCI (@BCCI) January 17, 2023
The move to move opener Ishan into the middle order comes after middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the ODI series.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Tuesday that he has been ruled out due to a back injury.
In an official statement, the BCCI said, “He will go to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for further assessment and management. The All India Senior Selection Committee has named Rajat Patidar as the replacement for Shreyas Iyer.”
The skipper said the series would be challenging for his team as New Zealand are a good side and are coming to India after winning the ODI series over Pakistan.
“Going into the series, it’s very easy for us, try to improve as a team and fix whatever is in front of us in terms of our batting, bowling and fielding. Great opposition and a Great opportunity to achieve what we want to achieve as a team. New Zealand are coming off a series win in Pakistan, they have been playing some good cricket. It will be challenging for us to do what we want to do,” Rohit said. .
Rohit said that his team would like to continue from where they left off in the series against Sri Lanka.
“It’s not so important to see the opposition, but to do well as a team and play the way we want to. The last series was a perfect example of that. We played some fearless cricket. We don’t want to over-complicate things. want.” And see what other teams can do with us,” Rohit said.
New Zealand’s home series will consist of three T20 Internationals and three ODIs. India will begin the series with 50-over matches starting on January 18.
The T20 series will begin on January 27 and end on February 1.
India’s updated ODI squad against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj and Umran Malik.