Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has high hopes for young wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan and hinted that the 25-year-old will get plenty of chances to prove himself in Test cricket. Ishaan made his Test debut against the West Indies. India won the match by an innings and 141 runs. After the match, Rohit said that he was very impressed with Ishan's keeping in front of players like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja when the ball was turning.
India will play their second Test against the Caribbean team on Thursday and will try to clean sweep the two-match series. Ishaan making a good Test debut, that too in an overseas Test, bodes well for the youngster, especially with Rishabh Pant out of the India squad after a horrific car accident late last year.
Asked how he sees Ishaan's first Test, especially when Rishabh is not part of the Indian team, Rohit said, "Ishaan is a very talented guy. We have seen that in his short career for India. He scored 200 recently. He has game and talent and we have to use that talent. So we need to give chances (to him). He is a left-handed batsman and likes to play very attacking cricket. "
The skipper also said that he had spoken to Ishaan and that he wanted the youngster to play his natural game. Rohit said "I have had a clear conversation with him about how I want him to play and I have given him complete freedom. He has the game and if he wants some freedom to express himself, that is our There's work. We'll do it."
When India declared their first innings, Ishaan got to bat only 20 balls. Rohit said he was thoroughly impressed with the keeping skills of the player, especially when the ball was spinning a lot. Rohit said "I would especially like to talk about his wicketkeeping. He did good wicketkeeping in his first Test and kept against Ashwin and Jadeja where the ball was turning and bouncing and some balls Neechi is also living… I am very impressed with her keeping skills.
Rohit said, "Unfortunately he could only score one run as we had to declare the innings. We want our top-order batsmen to bat for a long time. If there is a chance (to bat for a long time), then he (Ishaan) is eager to go."
The skipper ruled out drastic changes to the winning combination ahead of the second Test but admitted that inclement weather did not help in getting clarity on the Queen's Park Oval track here. India won the first Test by a huge margin and, unlike in earlier times, the Indian captain made a fresh change by announcing the debut of Yashasvi Jaiswal and a new batting line-up for Shubman Gill.
"In Dominica, when we saw the pitch and knew the conditions, we had a clear idea. Here we don't have clarity because of the rain, but I don't think there will be any major changes," Rohit said. But we will take a call based on whatever conditions are available," Rohit said ahead of the historic 100th Test against the West Indies.
Although the captain didn't name anyone, the only weak link in the line-up is left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who didn't look as potent as Mohammed Siraj or Shardul Thakur in the first match. As a new bowler, Rohit gave him only nine overs in two innings, of which only two overs he sent in the second innings. The Indian team management cannot be faulted if they have a third spinner in Axar Patel who can create problems for the Caribbean team, or use more aggressive swing bowling like Mukesh Kumar if the conditions are bad. Can
The skipper, who scored his 10th Test century in the first Test of the series, was happy that youngsters like Jaiswal made the most of the opportunity by scoring 171 runs in the very first match. Rohit believes that change in Indian cricket will happen sooner or later but what role senior players play is important. He said "Change has to happen, whether it is today or tomorrow but I am happy that our boys who are coming are doing well. And our role is important because we have to make the role clear to them. Now it is up to them to How they want to prepare and perform for the team.
Rohit said, "We trust him and he is the future of Indian cricket and he will take Indian cricket to new heights." He is also hopeful that West Indies will make a comeback in the historic Test between the two countries. It's an honor to lead the Indian team to this game and it doesn't happen every day. Both the teams have a lot of history, played a lot of good cricket. I wouldn't expect anything different in this Test. I am sure they (Windies) will bounce back and it will be exciting for both the teams."
(pc amarujala)
