Sunil Gavaskar, a former India captain, has endorsed Ishan Kishan to play. Against New Zealand, on Sunday instead of Hardik Pandya if the all-rounder is unable to bowl.
India will face the Black Caps in a couple of days after suffering a humiliating setback to Pakistan. Virat Kohli and his team will be sweating over their sixth bowling option heading into this game. It will attempt to make tweaks here and there to strike the appropriate balance.
If Hardik Pandya is only playing as a batsman, Sunil Gavaskar believes in-form Ishan Kishan should get the nod ahead of him.
“If Hardik Pandya is not bowling – due to that shoulder injury. He sustained in the match against Pakistan – Ishan Kishan has been in brilliant form so I will surely consider him ahead of Pandya.” veteran said
For mysterious reasons, Hardik Pandya has seen bowling in the nets during India’s first training session following the Pakistan game. He didn’t appear to be in any agony, and he was seen rolling his arms in the next game.
Sunil Gavaskar also believes Shardul Thakur, who has been in excellent form, can replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is injured.
“And perhaps, you can think of Shardul Thakur in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But otherwise, if you make too many changes, then you will show the opposition that you have panicked,” Sunil Gavaskar added.
Chennai Super Kings
Shardul played a crucial role in Chennai Super Kings’ fourth IPL championship. In 16 games, he took 21 wickets, with the best figures of 3/28.
The 72-year-old, on the other hand, highlighted that there is no need to make too many changes to the starting XI since this could harm the team.
“If you make changes, it will show that the team has panicked. There is no need to panic because they have a good team.” Sunil Gavaskar said
“Yes, you’ve lost a match to a good team but that doesn’t mean that going forward. India won’t win the match or win the tournament. If you win the next four matches. You can make it to the semi-final and from there, possibly even the final. So, there is no need to make too many changes,” he concluded.
India is now ranked 5th in Group 2 and will be looking to get back on track with a semi-final berth on the line.