'X-factor' Ishan Kishan can put Australia under pressure in WTC Final, says Ricky Ponting
'X-factor' Ishan Kishan can put Australia under pressure in WTC Final: Ponting
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has backed India keeper-batter Ishan Kishan to play ahead of KS Bharat in the World Test Championship Final, starting June 7th at the Oval in London. Calling him someone who, like Rishabh Pant, can change gears and put any opposition under pressure, Ponting sees no reason why Kishan can't make his Test debut in the all-important clash.
Although the left-handed Kishan was among the runs in the ongoing IPL 2023, scoring 454 from 16 games at a strike rate of above 140, he still falls behind Bharat in the pecking order – who played all four Tests earlier during the Border-Gavaskar series.
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Also, in the absence of KL Rahul - the makeshift keeper in ODIs, the wicketkeeping situation gets tricky for Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid. While the consensus says India might go ahead with Bharat for that one spot, many feel, including Ponting, that going with Kishan will be a better choice.
"If I was them [India], knowing the importance of this game - and you have to win this Test match - I'd be going with Ishan Kishan in this game," Ponting said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"He provides that little bit of X-factor that you need when you might be pushing for a win in a Test match. Obviously, if Rishabh Pant is fit, he is playing, and he provides that X-factor for India. But with him not being there, and this is no blot on Bharat whatsoever, I think Kishan just provides that little bit more X-factor, who'd do a good job with the gloves but can provide that really high-scoring run rate that is required in a one-off Test match to push for a win,” Ponting added.
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Ponting said considering what is at stake and this one-off Test is all to play for, he would rather play all the x-factors to ensure India puts Australia under pressure and take the game home.
"I'd be going with as many X-factor players as I could and put some real pressure back on Australia," Ricky further opined.
Ishan and Suryakumar Yadav, two x-factors in Ponting’s eyes, were part of the BGT earlier that India won 2-1. While Surya played the Nagpur Test, and scored eight runs in the only inning he batted in, Ishan warmed the benches during the series.
Although Ishan is considered to be a better white-ball player, given his recent exploits, wherein he became the fourth Indian batter to complete two hundred runs in an ODI inning recently, his first-class numbers read 2985 runs in 48 matches, averaging 38.76 - which are good enough to push for a case in the XI against the mighty Aussies.
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