Indian cricket fans may never again see the most successful opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in ODI cricket, as the veteran left-hander was dropped from the side for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka at home.
The Indian selectors picked Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, and Gautam Gambhir revealed his choice when he was asked to pick Rohit Sharma’s opening partner between the two youngsters for the upcoming home assignment.
Ishan smashed a double century on the Bangladesh tour recently as an opener, and the former Indian opener believes that the young wicketkeeper should be allowed to continue the role against Sri Lanka.
Gautam Gambhir was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo: “I'm amazed we're discussing this because someone's got a double-hundred in the previous innings. The discussion is over. It has to be Ishan Kishan. Someone who can get a double-hundred in those conditions against a reasonable attack, especially at home, should play.”
The former cricketer continued, “He got what 200 by the 35th over mark? You can't look at anyone beyond Ishan Kishan. He has to be given a longer run. He can also keep wickets as well, so he can do two jobs for you. So, for me, that discussion shouldn't be there.
If someone else had got a double-hundred, I think we would've gone gung-ho over that individual, but it's not the case with Ishan Kishan. Because we still continue to talk about other players. For me, that debate is over.”
Speaking about his ideal India XI in ODIs, Gambhir said: “It's very difficult to look beyond Rohit and Ishan Kishan to open the batting, Virat Kohli at three, Suryakumar Yadav at four, and Shreyas Iyer at five, because he's been incredible in the last one-and-a-half years.”
He signed off by saying, “Yes, Iyer’s had issues against the short ball, but he's been able to manage it. You can't be the best against everything but if you're able to manage it and got the numbers going for you, you can't look beyond Shreyas at No. 5 and Hardik Pandya at 6.”
