Veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that Team India should bring Ishan Kishan in the playing XI to open the innings with Rohit Sharma for their next ICC T20 World Cup 2021 clash against New Zealand on October 31.
Team India openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul had a poor outing against Pakistan in their opening clash of the tournament on October 24. While the Indian vice-captain registered a golden duck, Rahul managed just 3 runs as they looked clueless against Shaheen Afridi.
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With both the openers displaying poor batting against Pakistan, the calls to bring in-form Ishan Kishan to the mix has risen drastically.
Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that Ishan Kishan should open with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul should bat at No.4 as it will also strengthen the batting line-up.
"I have been saying for a long time, it's high time, Ishan Kishan needs to get a game. He should open with Rohit Sharma, Kohli comes in at No.3 and KL can bat at 4. This will be a very, very solid batting lineup till No.4," Harbhajan Singh told India today.
Singh said that Rishabh Pant should bat at No.5 and if Hardik Pandya is fit he should bat at No.6 as he is a match-winner. But if the all-rounder is not match fit, Suryakumar Yadav should bat at No.5 followed by Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja at No.6 and No.7.
He added that the Virat Kohli-led side should bring Shardul Thakur in at No.8 as his recent form his exceptional and the team should look to utilise his confidence. He remarked that Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Mohammad Shami should be the last three players.
"At No.5, Rishabh Pant can come and at six, Hardik if he is available. If he is ok I would still playing because he is a match-winner for team India. If he is not fit then Suryakumar Yadav plays at No.5, Rishabh at six and (Ravindra) Jadeja at seven.
“At No.8, Shardul Thakur. He can bat, bowl and field, he has been performing really well. He just won a championship with CSK, riding high on confidence and we should look to utilise his confidence. Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Shami will be the next three," he said.
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While talking about the loss to Pakistan, Harbhajan Singh said that he doesn’t think that it will impact Team India that much as they can come back strongly. He added that skipper Virat Kohli along with management will take a look at what went wrong for them and rectify the mistakes.
"I don't think this will make too big a difference. Obviously, it would have been nice to get off to a better start. But it's not the end of the road. They can always make a comeback, they are a very strong team. I am sure Virat and the rest will sit and take a look at what went wrong and they will make the right decisions and come back stronger. This is what they are known to do," he said.
Team India will take on New Zealand on 31st October, in what might be a must-win clash for them.
(India Today inputs)
