ICC World Cup 2023: "Ishan Kishan Should Definitely Be There As Well To Give Another Left-Handed Batting Option" - Ricky Ponting On India's Squad For World Cup

Former Australian batter and World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting said that the young wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan should be part of India’s squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup. Ponting believes that could be the second-choice wicketkeeper for India in the absence of Rishabh Pant, who is likely to miss the marquee event at home.

KL Rahul kept the wickets in the recently concluded ODI series against Australia. Rahul has been impressive with his batting in the middle order, scoring 994 runs at an average of 49.70, including two centuries. Ishan Kishan has been inconsistent with his performances, and he has scored 33 runs in 4 ODIs since his double hundred against Bangladesh in December.

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They’ll Stick With Ishan Kishan – Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting believes that Ishan Kishan will play a big role in India’s ODI World Cup line-up in the absence of Rishabh Pant. Ponting said that Ishan would provide left-handed batting variety in the middle order, citing the promotion of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Suryakumar Yadav against Australia.

“Look, I do think they’ll stick with him. I think in their World Cup squad, KL will definitely be there,” Ponting said.

“I think Ishan Kishan should definitely be there as well to give another left-handed batting option because if you look back to game three, they promoted Axar and Jadeja ahead of Surya because of Ashton Agar and the balls spinning away from the right-handers,” he added.

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“With Rishabh not being there now, they might think of maybe wanting to play a specialist left-handed batter in the middle order which I think would have to be Ishan Kishan in some role, whether that’s at No.4 or No.5,” he added.

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Need To Have Left-Handers Through Your Middle Order – Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting believes left-handers must be in the middle order to negate left-arm off-spinners. The former Australia batters said that the teams should pick the two keepers in their World Cup squad so they can select players according to the situation.

“Just to negate teams that have got left-arm off-spin because, when you look at the spinners around the world now, there are very few right-arm off-spinners in ODIs and T20Is. You need to have left-handers through your middle order,” Ponting added.

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“Most sides will have left-arm off-spin and right-arm leg spin, and if you’ve only got right-handers through the middle order, it’s a lot harder for those guys to play it. So I think they’ll go into that World Cup with the two keepers in their squad, and they’ll make the decision on what they need as far as their batting is concerned,” he concluded.

Ishan Kishan was in the squad as the backup opener in the recent series, with Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma as the first-choice players. However, his position came under scrutiny after he failed to grab opportunities in international cricket across formats.

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