Ishan Kishan to play in middle-order against New Zealand, confirms Rohit Sharma | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The non-inclusion of Ishan Kishan — India’s latest ODI double centurion — in the playing XI against Sri Lanka stirred a debate and raised quite a few eyebrows but the dashing left-hander will get his chance in the New Zealand ODIs, confirmed skipper Rohit Sharma on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old, who scored the fastest double hundred in the ODI history, however will be playing in the middle-order in the 3-match series against the Kiwis starting Wednesday.
With KL Rahul unavailable due to personal reasons and Shreyas Iyer ruled out with injury, a couple of slots opened up in the middle-order and the explosive left-hander will be filling one of them.

“Ishan Kishan will be batting in the middle order. I am glad that he is getting this run after that fine knock (double century) against Bangladesh,” said Rohit in a pre-match press conference.

Rajat Patidar has also been included in India’s squad as the cover for injured Shreyas.
Shubman Gill, who was rewarded for his consistency and picked ahead of Kishan to open alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, made the most of the opportunities with scores of 70, 21 and 116 in the Sri Lanka series.
No changes are expected to the opening combination against the Black Caps.
Kishan has batted in the middle-order thrice in the 10 ODIs he had played, and therefore, making adjustments should not be an issue.
KS Bharat, who is the second wicketkeeper in the squad, is likely to warm the bench as he is more of a cover in Rahul’s absence.
In a World Cup year, every game is significant and India would aim to build on the gains from the Sri Lanka series even though the performance of their opponents was underwhelming to say the least.
(With inputs from PTI)