Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer raised his concerns regarding the form of the Indian opener Ishan Kishan in the T20 cricket following his underwhelming performance of India in the shorter format of the game and remained on the team management about Yashasvi Jaiswal’s exploits in the IPL.
Though Ishan Kishan has regularly featured in ODI and T20I series for India in recent times, he had a mediocre run in T20 cricket. The left-handed batter had a reasonable outing with the bat for the Mumbai Indians scoring 454 runs from 15 games at an impressive strike rate of 142.76 but could not make an impact with the bat for India in the 1st T20 against West Indies.
Speaking on Espncricinfo, Wasim Jaffer wants the Indian team to give an opportunity to Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the batting in the 2nd T20 against West Indies as Ishan Kishan’s form in T20 cricket is a cause of concern for the team and reckons that he has poor form in shorter format though he had a good run in ODI cricket.
“I want to see Yashasvi Jaiswal. He should play as an opening batter. I want to see Jaiswal in place of Ishan Kishan. Ishan Kishan’s T20I form worries me. In the last 15 innings, he hasn’t even scored a 40, the strike rate is also too low. So, that’s a cause for concern, but he was in good form in ODIs. It’s a different format (T20I). He also had an ordinary IPL season,” Wasim Jaffer said.
Ishan Kishan is likely to have sealed his spot in the Indian team for the ODI World Cup following his brilliance in the three-match ODI series as the southpaw has amassed 617 runs at a good average of 44.07 in 16 ODIs, including an outstanding 210-run knock in the game against Bangladesh but his form in the T20 cricket has drawn criticism following his poor form.
Yashasvi Jaiswal Won The Emerging Player Award And Is Confident – Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer urged the Indian team to give an opportunity to young Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has impressed everyone with his fearless batting approach at the top of the order and admitted that the 1st T20 was played on the tough wicket in Trinidad and Tobago and believes that the Indian batters will play better if the pitch is favourable for batting.
“Why not give an opportunity to the boy who played very well in the IPL? He won the emerging player award and is confident. I’ll definitely look toward that change. The first T20I was played on a difficult pitch, so expecting them [Kishan and Shubman Gill] to play in that fashion (free-flowing mode) is too much expectation. It’s crucial to see the pitch for the second T20I. If it’s good enough, then our batters will play well,” Wasim Jaffer added.
Yashasvi Jaiswal made it into the Indian team following a terrific IPL season with the Rajasthan Royals and a domestic season with Mumbai. The left-handed opener has scored 625 runs in 14 matches at an average of 48.08 and has hit five half-centuries and one century in the season. He was also named the Emerging Player of the Season and can contribute to the team’s success if provided an opportunity to play the 2nd game in Guyana.