Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has criticized wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan’s approach and his strike-rate following his performances in the recently-concluded India-West Indies T20I series at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
In KL Rahul’s absence, Kishan was made to open in all three matches. In the first game, he scored 35 off 42 balls at a strike-rate of 83.33. In the next hit out, the left-hander scored 2 runs off 10 balls and in the final match, 34 off 31 balls.
While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra lauded Kishan’s batting but wasn’t too impressed with the strike-rate aspect.
“There was pressure again on Ishan Kishan. He batted well but the strike rate is still questionable. Questions will be raised repeatedly on that as he is playing because of left-right combination plus destructive, explosive but he is not able to do that job,” said Chopra.
Meanwhile, cricketer-turned-broadcaster Chopra was left impressed by Venkatesh Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav’s 91-run stand. The duo, scoring 35* and 65, respectively, took India to a match-winning total of 184/5 in 20 overs.
“Ruturaj – there was an opportunity, I thought he would do well. He played the wrong shot. Shreyas Iyer was looking good but got out. But when Rohit got out, India were floundering. I didn’t think they would reach till 170-180 but then we had Venkatesh Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav – amazing partnership,” Chopra added.
In the second innings, West Indies finished at 167/9 in 20 overs. Vice-captain Nicholas Pooran scored a valiant 61 and due to inadequate support from any other batter, he was unable to finish the game for the visitors. The result helped India complete a 3-0 series clean sweep.