Ishan Kishan might have played a stunning knock in the first T20I against South Africa, but Aakash Chopra believes that the young wicketkeeper-batter must score a lot more runs consistently to make it into the Team India squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022.
Kishan had a poor IPL 2022 campaign with the Mumbai Indians (MI), but he managed to earn a place in the Indian squad for the ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa at home. Well, he justified his selection by playing a brilliant knock of 76 runs off 48 balls in a losing cause for India on June 9.
However, the former Indian batter lauded Kishan for his brilliant performance against South Africa, but said that the road is tough for the youngster to earn a place in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2022.
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In a conversation with Star Sports, Aakash Chopra said: “To begin with, the T20 World Cup is way too far away for this innings to have a significant impact with regards to his selection. In my opinion, it's a good start, but it's just a start, just the tip of the iceberg.”
He added, “You need to create a mountain if you really want to go that far. Yes, he has been brilliant. He actually took the attack to the opposition. I loved the way he batted on a seemingly difficult pitch after not starting that fluently, but then there are far too many games and the World Cup is too far away.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator has also crucial advice for Ishan, saying the wicketkeeper-batter should not compromise on his strike rate to play substantial knocks.
Chopra signed off by saying, “But having said that, the flip side of that story is that the moment you start focusing on making it count and making it into a really long innings, you tend to stop focusing on the strike rate. I think he batted beautifully. Just replicate as many times as you can the innings we saw in Delhi. It's not going to be easy; there will be a few failures, but then it will hold him in good stead.”
