Aakash Chopra: Ishan’s opening and scoring a fifty hasn’t told me anything
The Indian cricket team’s batting order experiment in the first ODI against West Indies didn’t reap the desired rewards, with the team losing 5 wickets while chasing a paltry total of 115 runs. The likes of Ishan Kishan, Gill, Pandya, Surya and Shardul all got to bat before skipper Rohit Sharma while Virat Kohli didn’t even get an outing.
Ex-India cricketer Aakash Chopra, baffled by the experiment, said the fact that Ishan opened and scored a fifty had little meaning for him.
Aakash said on his YouTube channel –
“There was a big question in batting that whether Sanju Samson or Ishan Kishan will play. Ishan Kishan opening and scoring a fifty has not told me anything. I already knew that Ishan Kishan is a good player.”
Aakash added – “Ishan Kishan was slotted to bat at No. 4, from which you could understand that this team is looking at him as the second wicketkeeper who will bat in the middle order – makes a lot of sense.
“However, you got him to open, and he scored a fifty. He is going to do that. He has scored a double hundred in ODIs.”
Suryakumar Yadav was expected to grab his place in the ODI team by both hands. Coming out to bat at No. 3 spot, He only scored 19 runs.
Aakash was disappointed from Surya as he said –
“Then came Suryakumar Yadav – that’s another question. This was an opportunity for him. I had kept Suryakumar Yadav in my World Cup team but for that, he will have to score runs.
“He was sent to bat at No. 3 so that he goes and collects runs, and his name continues to remain in the audition.”
