Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar reckons it will be difficult for the team management and the selectors to drop Ishan Kishan after his fine knock of 82 runs against Pakistan in a high-octane clash of the ongoing Asia Cup. Gavaskar feels Shreyas Iyer’s place could be in trouble if he doesn’t get runs against Nepal on Monday.
Iyer, who was making a return to International cricket after a long time due to a back injury, could only score 14 runs off nine balls against Pakistan. The right-hander was dismissed by Haris Rauf when he timed a pull shot to perfection but found Fakhar Zaman at short mid-wicket.
With KL Rahul currently out of action due to a niggle, the fight for spots in the middle order is getting intense. Gavaskar feels India might have to drop Shreyas Iyer when KL Rahul is fit to return to the playing XI as they can not drop Ishan Kishan, who proved his mettle in tough conditions against Pakistan.
In fact, Iyer batted at number four against Pakistan and he might not even get a chance to bat against Nepal if India’s top three fire at all cylinders.
Sunil Gavaskar told India Today, “I would actually wait and see what Shreyas Iyer does against Nepal as well. And if he doesn’t get runs in the game against Nepal, he might not even get an opportunity to bat. He could probably bat, you know, because against Nepal, if India go for 50 overs, the top three batters could possibly bat 40 odd overs.”
“But otherwise I would look at, you know, in case Shreyas Iyer doesn’t get runs, then I would look at both Rahul and Kishan batting at four and five. You can’t drop is after he got 80. He’s got an 80 in trying circumstances. I don’t think you can drop him. It’s not fair to him. And he, like I said, he brings a left-handed dimension to the Indian top order,” said Gavaskar.
Ishan Kishan’s knock of 82 runs has definitely added to India’s selection headache. India will next face Nepal at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele on Monday.
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