‘Scoring a fifty has not told me anything…’Aakash Chopra remarks on Ishan Kishan opening batting for India during the first ODI against West Indies

Team India will lock horns against the West Indies in the second ODI on July 29. Earlier, during the first ODI, India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited the home team to bat first. When put to bat first, the Windies could only rack up 114 runs. In reply, while chasing, the Men in Blue chased down the target in just 22.5 overs, owing to a magnificent half-century from Ishan Kishan, who struck 52 runs from 46 balls, featuring seven boundaries and a six.

It’s quite notable that the 24-year-old was the opener during the first ODI, but during the upcoming World Cup and Asia Cup, Shubman Gill might open with skipper Rohit Sharma. Speaking on the same subject, former India cricketer turned analyst Aakash Chopra feels that Ishan Kishan’s half-century as an opener had no impact on him.

“There was a big question in batting that whether Sanju Samson or Ishan Kishan will play. Ishan Kishan opening and scoring a fifty has not told me anything. I already knew that Ishan Kishan is a good player,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel, Cricket Ki Chaupal.

Who will bat in the middle order makes a lot of sense: Chopra

The former India opener further added that if the wicketkeeper batter scores runs in the middle order, that can only make sense. “Ishan Kishan was slotted to bat at No. 4, from which you could understand that this team is looking at him as the second wicketkeeper who will bat in the middle order – makes a lot of sense. However, you got him to open, and he scored a fifty. He is going to do that. He has scored a double hundred in ODIs,” he added further.

Following this, the cricket commentator went on to say that the place of Suryakumar Yadav in the 50-over format is also the biggest question ahead of the upcoming ODI World Cup. “Then came Suryakumar Yadav – that’s another question. This was an opportunity for him. I had kept Suryakumar Yadav in my World Cup team but for that, he will have to score runs,” he concluded.