India wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan (AP Image)
Aakash Chopra pointed out that Ishan Kishan is an undisputed starter for Mumbai Indians where he can afford to have a couple of off-games but that is not the case with the Indian team.
Aakash Chopra gave his take on Ishan Kishan’s underwhelming form in T20Is as the southpaw also got dropped from the playing XI for the third T20I against West Indies. Ishan, who has done well in ODIs, failed to replicate the same in the shortest format. In 29 T20Is, the southpaw has scored 686 runs at an underwhelming average of 24.5 and his strike rate of 121.63 is also a big concern at the top of innings. Meanwhile, in IPL, the southpaw scored 2324 runs in 85 matches.
Chopra feels that it’s not right to compare the T20I performances with IPL.
“He has scored a double century in ODI cricket as an opener but he hasn’t fired in T20Is. Let’s not confuse T20Is with the IPL,” he said on his Youtube channel.
The former opener pointed out that Kishan is an undisputed starter for Mumbai Indians where he can afford to have a couple of off-games but that is not the case with the Indian team.
“In the IPL, you have a long season of 14 matches, if you bat at the top of the order and are an important player, like Ishan Kishan is for the Mumbai Indians, your place is secured and you keep on playing in one way. You know that there are a lot of matches. So you find your rhythm at some stage,” he added.
“However, when you play T20Is, one series comes in three months. If you don’t start well in that series, suddenly you start thinking because the number of matches is limited and your place is not yet fully secured, someone or the other is waiting behind you,” he said.
Kishan was replaced by Yashasvi Jaiswal in the playing XI for the third T20I. Chopra suggested that Ishan has been under pressure which is a result he played too many dot balls in the first two matches.
“So if someone is waiting and there is pressure on you, sometimes you tend to forget what your template was. If you see the current series, he played only two matches, he has more than 50% dot balls. Ishan Kishan didn’t use to play so many dot balls,” he added.
