Aakash Chopra (Photo Source: Instagram/Aakash Chopra)
In order to make room for Yashasvi Jaiswal, the team management decided to bench Ishan Kishan in the third and fourth T20I of the ongoing series against Ireland. Notably, the stumper-batter was playing some brilliant cricket in the ODI series and even in the second T20I, the cricketer started well but couldn’t make the most of the start. Hence, he was dropped. Meanwhile, his replacement, Jaiswal has created a massive impact, winning the Player of the Match in the 4th T20I.
Speaking about Kishan, former India international Aakash Chopra stated that India will only play 14 T20Is leading up to the upcoming T20 World Cup and hence, the team management should focus on forming their core. He also added saying that playing in the IPL will not help much as everyone does well there and hence, the cricketers should play more international games with each other in order to get adjusted.
“We were experimenting in ODIs recently and now we are not taking T20Is that seriously as well. I will tell you why? Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill are both not going to Ireland. I can understand that people need breaks but we have only 14 T20I games from now till the next (T20) World Cup.
“Don’t think about the IPL because everyone plays in the IPL and does well too but that does not mean that we win the World Cup. In fact, we don’t win at all. We won the World Cup once when the IPL wasn’t there. So you need to play T20 internationals,” Chopra stated on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Chopra also pointed out that Kishan will not be able to make his return in the fifth T20I against West Indies as both Gill and Jaiswal were phenomenal in the fourth match. His future in the series looks gloomy as well and hence, the cricketer is expected not to play a single match before the Asia Cup. Hence, his selection for the upcoming ODI World Cup too can be in jeopardy if KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer regains fitness.