Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels that it is going to be difficult for Ishan Kishan to make it for the 2024 T20 World Cup considering his preferred batting position. With uncertainty over Rishabh Pant’s availability and KL Rahul being out of the T20I scheme of things at the moment, India need to finalise the wicketkeeper’s slot for the mega ICC event. India have picked Ishan Kishan and Jitesh Sharma as the two wicketkeeping options for the ongoing T20I series against South Africa.
Pathan suggested that Jitesh has an upper hand over Ishan in the shortest format as there is tough competition at the top of the order which is the southpaw’s preferable position.
“I will play Jitesh hands down. I have maintained from earlier that if you have to play Ishan, whether it is ODIs or T20Is, you have to play him at the top, and there is a traffic jam at the top,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
The veteran all-rounder feels it will be a tough task for Ishan to get a place as he struggled a bit batting in the middle order, on the other hand, he called Jitesh a creative batter and compared him with Suryakumar Yadav.
“It’s very difficult for Ishan Kishan to make his place. This is my belief. I don’t know at all what the team management thinks but his ability that I have judged for many years, I feel he needs the hard new ball and then he plays spin well,” Pathan added.
“When you bat in the middle order, you will get spin in front of you, and there you (Kishan) might have difficulties at times. Jitesh Sharma is a slightly creative player. He is a Suryakumar Yadav-mold type player. You will see him playing the lap and different types of shots,” he elaborated.
Jitesh impressed many with his batting skills in the T20I series against Australia where he played crucial knocks in the two matches he played.
The wicketkeeper batter grabbed the limelight in the last two seasons of IPL with his free-flowing shot-making. In 26 matches, he scored 543 runs in IPL at a staggering strike rate of 159.24.
“His growth in T20 cricket in the last one to one-and-a-half years has been fantastic. He has been doing the finisher’s role extremely well for the Punjab Kings in the IPL and he recently played two very good innings (for India). His strike rate is always impressive and he plays both spin and fast bowling well,” Pathan asserted.
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