Asia Cup 2023: Rahul Dravid, team management pick batting position for Ishan Kishan as Pakistan game looms

Ishan Kishan is one player everyone is talking about ahead of the marquee India-Pakistan clash in Pallekele, Kandy, on September 2. With returning makeshift keeper-batter KL Rahul out of the group stages due to a groin injury, Ishan is said to seal the middle-order slot in his absence. Per the latest reports, Rahul Dravid-led coaching staff is not keen on shuffling the top three this close to the World Cup 2023.

The Indian Express reports that Ishan could be tried at number four or five in the middle order during the Pakistan and Nepal games in Asia Cup 2023. Despite knowing what Ishan brings to the table at the top of the order, having scored a double hundred against Bangladesh in an ODI while opening the innings, Ishan will continue to fill Rahul’s shoes in his absence.

Though Sanju Samson has also travelled with the squad as a reserve player, the chances of him finding a place in the side look bleak, with team management alongside coaching staff and captainlocking Ishan to play ahead of Sanju, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma.

Since the India team remains unwilling to alter the top three – Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, having Shreyas Iyer at number four – a position at which he loved batting and scoring runs – would further provide the stability it lacked in the lead-up to this tournament.

Iyer and Rahul were out of action for a long time, but upon attaining full fitness at the NCA, both got named in the 17-man squad for the Asia Cup 2023. The Indian players attended a six-day conditioning camp in Alur, Bengaluru, working on gelling together and preparing for a packed winter before arriving in Colombo for the six-team tournament.

The Indian team, to be on the safer side, also included the Mumbai Indians pair of Suryakumar and Tilak Varma as backups in case of injuries to anyone in the batting order. While Tilak is yet to make his ODI debut, SKY failed to make the most of the chances to seal the middle-order slot.

Therefore, the management is now left with Ishan and Shreyas as the first options for the number four and five slots.

Can Ishan deliver in the middle order?

An opener in the true sense, Ishan is coming off a successful tour of the Caribbean, wherein he scored three successive fifties against the West Indies in T20Is. The left-handed batter in the six matches played in the number four position in ODIs, averages a mere 22.75, having struggled to get going against the spinners.

With the team management deciding on playing Ishan outside of the opening position, it remains to be seen how he will pull off this new role.

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