Should India have included Ishan Kishan in Asia Cup squad?
The 2022 Asia Cup is set to commence on August 27 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India announced their squad of 15 players for the tournament on August 9, Monday. The Men in Blue have one of the best teams on paper with a star-studded lineup, offering balance and depth.
However, there have been some big omissions from the squad such as Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer, among many others. And yet another player on that list is the talented 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, Ishan Kishan. Kishan, since his T20I debut in March 2021, has played19 matches and scored 543 runs at an average of 30.16 and a strike rate of 131.15.
Taking a closer look at his recent performances, he has scored 430 runs in 14 matches at an average of 30.71 in 2022, mostly while opening the innings. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, he scored 418 runs at an average of 32.15 and a strike rate of just over 120. He has shown that he is someone who can play a fearless brand of cricket in the powerplay and take it to the opposition by countering the new ball bowlers.
Kishan’s race to make the Asia Cup, and to partner with skipper Rohit Sharma at the top, was with the likes of KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, and Deepak Hooda. With all these players, who have made the squad having an average of over 35 and a strike rate of above 140, it is safe to say that Kishan sits down much below in the pecking order. Although Kishan has shown glimpses of a top-quality T20 opener, he has struggled to keep up the required consistency.
Out of his 19 matches, he was dismissed for a score of fewer than 10 five times, less than 20 eight times, and has crossed 30 runs only seven times. When it comes to the slot of the wicketkeeper, once again he is out of contention, given that Rishabh Pant has made the position his own. Also, with Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul in the squad, they would automatically be the second and third-choice wicketkeepers respectively. Even as it may appear a harsh call, it seems Kishan will need to do more find a spot in the Indian squads meant for multi-national events.
