3 reasons why Ishan Kishan deserves a place in the India ODI squad

A hard-hitter down the order with fine keeping skills

Some may argue on this as Rishabh Pant has done a fairly good job behind the stumps when it comes to red-ball cricket for India but keeping is not that all matters. Barring a few good innings, Rishabh has failed to provide the much-needed solidarity down the order and with Ishan’s keeping skills being on the same level as that of Pant, batting prowess would decide their inclusion in the squad.

Coming to the white-ball game, Dhoni will most likely retire post the ICC CWC 2019 and with the selectors making it clear that they have decided to look past Dinesh Karthik when it comes to ODIs (at least for the time being), the keeper’s slot will be up for grabs. Dhoni’s maturity as a batsman is incomparable and Pant seems to be in a hurry every now and then, something that is not expected especially when the team has faced massive batting collapses.

Ishan, though, has a similar aggressive mindset and has shown glimpses of the ability to hold an innings together. Pant hasn’t been able to come anywhere near that in the three opportunities that he got in ODIs and not to forget, his 14 innings in T20I’s have been subpar as well. Ishan trumps Pant in certain areas of the game and should it boil down to a choice between the two, the bottle should face towards Kishan.