IND vs WI: You Don't Have To Prepare Ishan Kishan, He's Ready - Harbhajan Singh

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh believes that Ishan Kishan is already good enough to play at the international level and he should be given a chance to open alongside Rohit Sharma in T20Is.

That would mean that the regular T20I opener, KL Rahul, will have to be pushed down the order. As per Harbhajan, if Rahul can bat in the middle-order in the ODI format, he can certainly do the same in T20Is as well.

“In my opinion, you don’t have to prepare Ishan Kishan, he is a ready player. You have to play him, you have to think how you can get him in. If you can bat KL Rahul at No. 5 in ODIs, why not in this format?“

“We understand that when he [Rahul] comes down the order in ODIs, he is capable of playing the big shots. So if he bats at No. 5 in T20Is, I feel it will not be a bad thing because you will get a strong middle order and along with that if you want to score 40-60 runs in the first six, you need a fearless player like Ishan Kishan up the order,” Harbhajan said on Star Sports’ show, Game Plan.

“If Ishan Kishan plays 60 balls, I feel he will score 120-130” – Harbhajan Singh brings up the strike-rate debate

Rahul had previously said that the strike rate is overrated. The stylish right-hander is well-known to get off the blocks slowly but this could be a hindrance in a team that needs to exploit the powerplay overs. Rahul’s IPL stats also shouldn’t be taken into consideration as per Harbhajan, since his strike rate has been weak.

“I know Rahul is an extremely good player but don’t go with the IPL performance. If you go by IPL performance, you will have to see how many match-winning innings he has. He has scored the big runs but with what strike rate he has scored that.“

“When he was playing 60 balls, he was scoring 70-80 runs. But if Ishan Kishan plays 60 balls, I feel he will score 120-130. That strike rate is very important. Don’t go by the 500 or 600-run figure because everyone is looking to get the Orange Cap on their head,” Harbhajan mentioned.

Kishan was the most expensive player in the IPL 2022 mega auction as well. He was bought by Mumbai Indians for INR 15.25 crores.

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