IND vs NZ: "He Should Bat At No. 3, Since He Is Capable Of Handling That Position" - Sanjay Manjrekar On Ishan Kishan

Sanjay Manjrekar urges Virat Kohli to go down to No. 4 In order to make room for Ishan Kishan at the top of the Indian batting order for the next ODI series against New Zealand.

Three one-day international matches will pit the Men in Blue against the Black Caps. The first match will take place on January 18 in Hyderabad. Kishan will likely enter the starting XI as the wicketkeeper-batter because KL Rahul is ineligible for the series.

IPL 2023 | New Zealand tour of India 2023 | Dream11 Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket Match Prediction Today | Cricket News | Cricket Live Score | Australia tour of India 2023

When asked if the Gill-Rahul duo would be replaced with a Shubman Gill-Ishan Kishan combination in the starting XI this time around during an interview on the Star Sports program “Game Plan,” Sanjay Manjrekar responded:

“It will continue to be challenging. One of the guys is going to be furious. I’ve got a plan to clean up this mess. Shubman Gill should bat at No. 3, since he is capable of handling that position, and Virat Kohli sacrifices his No. 3 for a No. 4.”

IPL 2023 | India National Cricket Team | IND vs NZ 2023 | India vs New Zealand 2023 | IND vs AUS 2023 | India vs Australia 2023

In his nine ODI innings, Kishan has only opened twice. He has batted at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively on four occasions.

“Shreyas Iyer has to play before Suryakumar Yadav”: Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar, a former cricketer turned broadcaster, continued by suggesting that Shreyas Iyer keep his spot in the starting XI instead of Suryakumar Yadav, saying:

“Then down the order, how you get the middle order right – I don’t know. Suryakumar Yadav is back in the 50-overs fold. He is in the Test squad as well, so that is brilliant. Shreyas Iyer has to play before Suryakumar Yadav, that’s going to be tricky,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.

Suryakumar is not likely to start for India against New Zealand in the opening ODI. The swashbuckling hitter, though, might get a chance if the club management decides to either keep Hardik Pandya out of the starting lineup or chooses to replace Gill with Kishan.