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Ishan Kishan’s century put a question mark on Rishabh Pant’s ODI career. A section of cricket fans praised Kishan’s name in place of Pant, who has been struggling with poor form for several months in this format.
However, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin does not want to rule out Rishabh Pant from the race for the 2027 ODI World Cup early. Ashwin mentioned through his YouTube channel that it is too early to predict Ishan Kishan’s future after watching his explosive batting against a weak Afghanistan bowling attack.
Ishan Kishan had performed brilliantly against Afghanistan in Lucknow.
Along with captain Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan scored a century against Afghanistan in the second match of the three-match ODI at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on 17 June. The keeper-batsman scored 125 runs in 79 balls at a strike rate of 158.23. His innings was decorated with 14 fours and seven sixes. He is now one of the fastest Indian players to score 1,000 runs in ODIs.
Ashwin says that KL Rahul can be the first-choice keeper-batsman for the ODI World Cup 2026 and the competition will be for the second-choice keeper. Currently the contest for the second place is between Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant. Compared to his current form, Kishan is currently ahead of Pant.
Ashwin tried to end the debate for now
The former cricketer highlighted that the upcoming ODI World Cup will be held on South African soil, where the batsmen will be given a tough test. Therefore, ahead of the tournament, R Ashwin has suggested BCCI to consider Rishabh Pant as well.
Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, “KL Rahul will be the first choice and Ishan Kishan may get a boarding pass as a backup for the World Cup. But I don’t think it is fair to drop Rishabh Pant so soon, because the World Cup will be in South Africa. Pant has done well in the middle order in ODIs. Kishan played a brilliant innings, but we should not lose heart.”
R Ashwin would like to see Ishan Kishan against a quality bowling attack. It might be wrong if the board selects a left-handed batsman merely because he scored a century against Afghanistan’s poor bowling line-up.
He said, “The attack that Afghanistan has got here is not a bowling attack at all. If we are realistic about it, it is a sub-standard attack. It would be wrong to print Kishan’s boarding pass to South Africa for the World Cup on the basis of defeating Afghanistan. It would be premature to make such a decision.”
Ashwin asked Washington Sundar more
He added some dedicated lines for spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar, who has got many chances under head coach Gautam Gambhir. Sundar has produced a number of impressive performances so far, which have not been enough to impress Ravichandran Ashwin.
“Under Gautam Gambhir’s regime, Washington Sundar is getting long runs and a lot of opportunities. They are supporting him a lot. He has done some great performances in Tests. But I think he needs to perform a little more,” Ashwin said.
