Who should open with Rohit Sharma : Shubman Gill or Ishan Kishan?

As India's preparation continues for the 2023 World Cup, each position seems to have been sorted. Shreyas Iyer at number 4, KL Rahul at Number 5 and Mohammad Siraj have sealed their positions in the team. However, there seems to be one slot to be uncertain - number 2. Who will be batting with Rohit Sharma - Ishan Kishan or Shubman Gill?

Ishan Kishan made the most of his opportunity in the 3rd ODI against Bangladesh by scoring a brilliant double ton in just 126 deliveries. That knock made the selectors consider Ishan Kishan ahead of the veteran Shikhar Dhawan, who was the second highest run scorer at the ODI's for India in 2022. After this brilliant knock, fans expected Ishan Kishan to be given the green signal to open with Rohit.

But it seemed unfair to drop Shubman Gill as he had not done anything wrong to get dropped from the side. In 2022, the 23 year old had scored 638 runs in 12 innings at a brilliant average of 70.88 while having a strike rate over 100. Gill managed to continue his form in the ODI series against India, scoring 207 runs in the 3 matches which included a fifty and a hundred. Gill continued his form in IPL 2023 also and performed exceptionally well. He won the Orange Cap after tallying 890 runs in 17 matches and smashed three centuries in the last five games of the season.

So, who is the right choice to open with Rohit Sharma? The correct choice would be Shubman Gill as he has a high strike rate which is needed in the modern game and is consistent with the bat, having a failure rarely. It would seem not to go with Ishan Kishan, even after scoring a double hundred but the selectors can only choose 11 players in a team.

So, the selectors would want to avoid chopping and changing and would want to stick with Gill and Rohit till the 2023 World Cup. Ishan Kishan would get a chance at games where India had already won the series and there is a dead rubber game at the end.

Cover Credit - BCCIofficial