Last Updated: January 12, 2023, 00:16 AM IST
It was a bit surprising when India captain Rohit Sharma revealed during a media interaction that he will walk out to open with Shubman Gill and not Ishan Kishan in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati. Rohit admitted that it was a tough decision to drop Ishan especially after he scored a double hundred in the previous ODI India played, against Bangladesh in Chattogram.
He argued that Shubman also deserves a fair amount of chances as the youngster hasn’t done much wrong.
Ishan scripted history when he scored 210 runs from 131 balls against Bangladesh, becoming the youngest and fastest to score a double century in ODIs.
However, the knock couldn’t guarantee him a place in the three-match series opener against Sri Lanka at Guwahati on Tuesday. Gill was preferred and he scored 70 runs off 60 deliveries, including 11 boundaries.
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Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes the swashbuckling keeper-batter has to wait for his ‘time’ as Gill has done no wrong.
“I’m sure he (Kishan) will get his chance. His time will come,” the former BCCI president was quoted as saying by PTI.
Several former cricketers including Venkatesh Prasad criticised Team India’s decision to drop Kishan in the Guwahati ODI but Ganguly chose to keep quiet.
“I don’t know… It’s difficult for me to say. In India, we have too many opinions, let (head coach) Rahul Dravid and (skipper) Rohit Sharma decide. People who actually play the game should actually decide who’s the best,” Ganguly said on the sidelines of a promotional event.
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In the Guwahati encounter, Kohli slammed his 45th ODI century and is now four shy of Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record of 49 hundreds in the format.
When asked to compare Kohli with Tendulkar, Ganguly said, “It’s a difficult question to answer. Kohli is a fantastic player. He’s played many such innings, 45 hundreds don’t happen like this. He’s a special talent. There will be periods when he will not score, but he’s a special player.”
(With PTI Inputs)
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