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DUBAI: Who will keep wickets for India against mighty Australia in the coming Test series in the absence of regular gloveman Rishabh Pant? The BCCI on Friday came up with two options – KS Bharat and the young Ishan Kishan – when they announced the India squad for the first two Tests of the four-match Test series, beginning February 9.
KS Bharat was an automatic choice in the absence of Pant who escaped a horrific high-speed car accident on December 30 last year.
Ishan, who has been a tremendous limited-overs cricketer, got a nod from the selection committee and was handed a maiden call-up in the longest format of the game.
The 24-year-old Ishan has played 10 ODIs and 24 T20Is for India so far. He recently became the seventh batsman in ODI history to hit a double century (vs Bangladesh) when he plundered 210 off 131 balls, including 24 fours and 10 sixes. Ishan’s double century was the fastest in ODI history.
Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower called Ishan’s selection the right call. He also termed Ishan as an aggressive and innovative cricketer.
Flower, who is the coach of the Gulf Giants team in the DP World ILT20, being hosted in the UAE, spoke with TimesofIndia.com and discussed Ishan’s selection, KL Rahul‘s captaincy, Suryakumar Yadav, and much more…
Ishan’s maiden Test call-up
Ishan is an outstanding young cricketer. Ishan looks like a lovely player. I like his innovation and his aggression. Ishan is talented but there is a lot of talent in India. If you get to play at the top level and represent India, you have done a lot of things right to get there because you have to fight your way to get past others.
Surya, the 360-degree batsman
We see 360-degree players are causing a lot of problems for bowlers. Seam bowlers can bowl at their best length and the batsman scoop over the keeper or fine leg. We are also seeing reverse sweep over short third man against the seamers now. Joe Root and SKY are doing that quite a bit. It is lovely to see these skills. It takes courage to play these shots. The game is demanding greater variation and a greater range of skills and players are finding ways to deliver that.
KL Rahul, an excellent candidate for the next India captain…
KL is a superb batsman. He is just beautiful to watch. I love watching him bat. I first came across him when I was coaching England Lions and we were playing against India A in Trivandrum. I was a keen follower of him as a batsman. He is also an outstanding human being and a very good leader. He is very calm. I respect him a lot. I really enjoyed working with him. He would be an excellent candidate. I don’t know the other guys, so I can’t comment on that.
Should KL open or bat at No. 5 in the ODI World Cup 2023?
He must play the role the team needs him to play. I am sure he would see it that way.
T20 cricket is a bowler’s game too…
I can see why people say that it’s a batman’s game. But I can see some wonderful bowling skills as well. You can see bowling skills have grown and tactics have evolved among the bowlers. So, we have seen how spinners have evolved and how wrist spinners are, even different types of spin (bowling). So, the game might fluctuate when batsmen dominate for a while and then the bowlers take over.
Flower’s message to Pant
It’s a real shame whatever happened. But he is still here. He is going to recover, hopefully, fully. We all wish him the very best.
KS Bharat was an automatic choice in the absence of Pant who escaped a horrific high-speed car accident on December 30 last year.
Ishan, who has been a tremendous limited-overs cricketer, got a nod from the selection committee and was handed a maiden call-up in the longest format of the game.
The 24-year-old Ishan has played 10 ODIs and 24 T20Is for India so far. He recently became the seventh batsman in ODI history to hit a double century (vs Bangladesh) when he plundered 210 off 131 balls, including 24 fours and 10 sixes. Ishan’s double century was the fastest in ODI history.
Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower called Ishan’s selection the right call. He also termed Ishan as an aggressive and innovative cricketer.
Flower, who is the coach of the Gulf Giants team in the DP World ILT20, being hosted in the UAE, spoke with TimesofIndia.com and discussed Ishan’s selection, KL Rahul‘s captaincy, Suryakumar Yadav, and much more…
Ishan’s maiden Test call-up
Ishan is an outstanding young cricketer. Ishan looks like a lovely player. I like his innovation and his aggression. Ishan is talented but there is a lot of talent in India. If you get to play at the top level and represent India, you have done a lot of things right to get there because you have to fight your way to get past others.
Surya, the 360-degree batsman
We see 360-degree players are causing a lot of problems for bowlers. Seam bowlers can bowl at their best length and the batsman scoop over the keeper or fine leg. We are also seeing reverse sweep over short third man against the seamers now. Joe Root and SKY are doing that quite a bit. It is lovely to see these skills. It takes courage to play these shots. The game is demanding greater variation and a greater range of skills and players are finding ways to deliver that.
KL Rahul, an excellent candidate for the next India captain…
KL is a superb batsman. He is just beautiful to watch. I love watching him bat. I first came across him when I was coaching England Lions and we were playing against India A in Trivandrum. I was a keen follower of him as a batsman. He is also an outstanding human being and a very good leader. He is very calm. I respect him a lot. I really enjoyed working with him. He would be an excellent candidate. I don’t know the other guys, so I can’t comment on that.
Should KL open or bat at No. 5 in the ODI World Cup 2023?
He must play the role the team needs him to play. I am sure he would see it that way.
T20 cricket is a bowler’s game too…
I can see why people say that it’s a batman’s game. But I can see some wonderful bowling skills as well. You can see bowling skills have grown and tactics have evolved among the bowlers. So, we have seen how spinners have evolved and how wrist spinners are, even different types of spin (bowling). So, the game might fluctuate when batsmen dominate for a while and then the bowlers take over.
Flower’s message to Pant
It’s a real shame whatever happened. But he is still here. He is going to recover, hopefully, fully. We all wish him the very best.
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