Indian team management did not pick Ishan Kishan as the backup opener for Asia Cup 2022, instead, they gave opportunities to players like Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav to open the batting and now they can play any one of them in case KL Rahul or Rohit Sharma gets injured. However, former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene feels that Rishabh should open the innings for India.
.@RishabhPant17 top-scored for #TeamIndia and was our top performer from the first innings of the 4th #WIvIND T20I. _ _
A summary of his knock _ pic.twitter.com/0GjTI3TRyx
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 6, 2022
“India is always trying to bring that next generation of cricketers,” said Jayawardene on the ICC Review Podcast. “The Zimbabwe tour is a good opportunity for those guys to get a hit out there. (On Pant opening the innings) It is an option, even though he hasn’t done much in domestic cricket. But he has the capacity to do that.”
Unfortunate Virat Kohli
Former India captain Virat Kohli also made comeback into the Indian squad, Virat missed the T20I series against West Indies and now he is back for Asia Cup. There were speculations that Virat might be dropped from the Indian squad as he is out of form for the last two years. However, the Indian team mangement continued to back the star player.
“It is unfortunate what Virat [Kohli] is going through at the moment. But I think he is a quality player. It would have been a conversation that Rahul [Dravid] and the management would have had with Virat. I think there have been some very positive conversations,” added the former Sri Lankan captain.
“Class is something that is permanent, form is temporary. My belief is that Virat has the tools to come out of it. He has done that in the past as well. I’m sure he will come through this,” added the 45-year-old. He believes that it is between Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India to win the 2022 Asia Cup. One of those two (India and Pakistan) will be in the final. The advantage is probably between India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. For me, it will be one of those teams [winning the Asia Cup]”, concluded Jayawardene.
