With first-choice India T20I openers out of the ongoing five-match series against South Africa at home, it’s a prime opportunity for the likes of Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad to lay their claim for the slot of the third opener which becomes active if either of Rohit Sharma or KL Rahul are unavailable.
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The series will play a major role in widening the pool of players from which the Indian selectors will finalise the squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World 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 spot is up for grabs.
Former India opener and now a commentator Aakash Chopra thinks that Ishan is quite ahead of the race and he has given an example of his ability during the 1st T20I when he smashed 76 off 48 with the help of 11 fours and three sixes.
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“Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad aren’t the first-choice openers, so the race is between them for the third openers,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel on Friday. “At the moment, Ishan is way ahead in it. He started slow but his intent was right. He was a bit lucky too but he kept attacking consistently. He wasn’t worried about his milestone. Even in the over he got out, Ishan had already scored plenty of runs.”
While Ishan sparkled with a dazzling fifty, Gaikwad did start well but failed to convert it into a big total as he was out for 15-ball 23.
Hardik Pandya, who made his India comeback after an impressive IPL 2022, showed glimpses of his old self as he struck an unbeaten 31 off 12 with two fours and three sixes.
“Welcome back Hardik Pandya, you are an asset. He struck 31 off 12. Then Rishabh Pant also played his part. Indian team had enough runs,” Chopra said.
However, Chopra was critical of Pant’s decision to not bowl the full quota of legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s overs. “Not bowling Chahal’s four overs was a mistake. Even if it’s a small stadium and in the absence of dew, he should have been persisted with,” he said.
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