'Questions will be raised repeatedly' - Aakash Chopra on Ishan Kishan's poor strike rate against West Indies

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra felt that Ishan Kishan will be questioned about his strike rate more after a dismal performance against West Indies. The left-hander was handed an opportunity at the top in all three games and he returned with scores of 35, 2 and 34 in the series. In fact, two out of the three innings had come under a strike rate below 100, which is unlike the youngster’s batting style.

Kishan, who struck a half-century on his T20I debut, is an aggressive batter by nature and likes to take on the bowling from the onset. He brings a wicketkeeping and left-handed option at the top which is one of the rare commodities and turned out to be the most expensive player in the IPL 2022 mega auction as expected. He tried to improve his strike rate in the third T20I where he managed a 31-ball 34 with five fours, but that was still nowhere near his best.

Ishan is not able to do that job upfront: Aakash Chopra

Chopra opined that Kishan has been assigned the role of an explosive opener and noted that there was a lot of pressure for not being able to do the job associated with him. He added that questions are bound to be raised over Kishan’s strike rate, which was a low 85.54 in three games in 83 deliveries.

“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,” Chopra told on his YouTube Channel.

Chopra also felt hard for Ruturaj Gaikwad who could manage just four runs in the third T20I. Meanwhile, Chopra praised Venkatesh Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav for stepping up when India needed them the most. Suryakumar finished as the Player of the Series.

“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.