IND v WI: India need to include Ishan Kishan in West Indies T20I series, feels Harbhajan Singh
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Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has said that wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan must be included in the playing XI in the T20I series against West Indies. The three-match series will start on February 16 in Kolkata. Ishan Kishan opened the batting in the first game of the preceding three-match ODI series against the same opponents in Ahmedabad.
Kishan has had a wonderful record in the Indian T20 League with 1452 runs in 61 games averaging 28.47 and striking at 136.33. The left-hander has batted in the opening and middle-order slots. His T20I strike rate (134.5) is not much different from the ITL playing five games sine making his debut against England last year.
Ahead of the T20I series, Singh has said that the team doesn’t need to prepare the former India U19 skipper as he is a ready player.
“In my opinion, you don’t have to prepare Ishan Kishan, he is a ready player. You have to play him, you have to think how you can get him in. If you can bat KL Rahul at No. 5 in ODIs, why not in this format?” said Harbhajan on Star Sports show Game Plan.
KL Rahul bat at number five: Harbhajan Singh
The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup winner added that KL Rahul can bat at number five in T20Is as he does in ODIs which makes a strong middle-order.
“We understand that when he [Rahul] comes down the order in ODIs, he is capable of playing the big shots. So if he bats at No. 5 in T20Is, I feel it will not be a bad thing because you will get a strong middle order and along with that if you want to score 40-60 runs in the first six, you need a fearless player like Ishan Kishan up the order,” the former spinner added.
