Kishan named as No.3 batsman for New Zealand T20s with one eye set towards the upcoming T20 World Cup defense.
Kishan to bat at No. 3 keeping T20 World Cup in mind, Suryakumar says.
In the opening Twenty20 International between India and New Zealand on Wednesday, Ishan Kishan will replace the injured Tilak Varma in the starting lineup. Suryakumar Yadav confirmed this during the captain’s news conference in Nagpur, stating that India was playing Kishan ahead of Shreyas Iyer, the other contender, in order to prepare for the T20 World Cup.
As a backup wicketkeeper, Kishan is a member of India’s team for that competition, which starts on February 7. In Tilak’s absence, Iyer was chosen to play in the first three Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand.
Suryakumar said that if India had been trying to replace a batter in the lower middle order instead of the top middle order, the outcome would have been different.
“Ishan will bat at No. 3, since he is in our World Cup team, and we picked him first, so it’s his responsibility and his turn to play, and he’s not played for India for a long time,” Suryakumar said. “He’s been doing well in domestic cricket, and he’s not played for the Indian team for a year or year-and-a-half, and since we’ve picked him in the World Cup squad, I feel he deserves to play. If it was a question of No. 4 or 5, we may have thought differently, but unfortunately Tilak isn’t there, and I think Ishan is the best bet at No. 3.”
Since the T20I series against Australia in November 2023, Kishan has not represented India. With an average of 25.67 and a strike rate of 124.37, he has amassed 796 runs in 32 Twenty20 Internationals, with just one of his 32 innings falling outside of the top three.
However, Suryakumar reiterated India’s long-standing policy of flexible batting positions outside the two openers, so he might have to bat at No. 4 on Wednesday.