After losing the ODI series in Bangladesh, Team India started 2023 with an impressive whitewash against Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series. Rohit Sharma, who returned from a thumb injury, looked in fine touch while Virat Kohli scored two hundreds in three matches. Shubman Gill, who was picked ahead of Ishan Kishan, also put in a solid performance, with the opener cementing his case with a century in the final game played in Thiruvananthapuram.
Team India is now gearing up for their next assignment, which is the limited-overs series against New Zealand starting Wednesday. In the series opener, skipper Rohit Sharma confirmed that Ishaan, who was not picked for any of the ODIs against Sri Lanka, would get a run but in a different batting position.
“Ishan will bat in the middle order, I am glad he can score runs here after his good innings against Bangladesh,” the captain said on Tuesday.
Ishaan became the fourth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma to score a double century in ODIs. The wicketkeeper-batsman achieved the feat in the final ODI against Bangladesh, in which he scored 210 off 131 balls.
Despite the impressive performance, Ishan did not appear in any ODIs, which was heavily criticized by both fans and experts on his Sri Lanka ODI debut. Now with Ishaan getting the new batting position, it will be interesting to see how India changes their batting order. There is every possibility that Ishan may come in place of Shreyas Iyer, who has been ruled out of the match due to a back injury.
Meanwhile, sharing his thoughts on the new challenge, the skipper said: “Going into the series it’s very easy for us, we just want to improve as a team. Big opposition, big challenge, we’ll see ourselves coming out and As a team we can challenge to achieve what we want. New Zealand are a very good team, they are coming off a great series win against Pakistan, so obviously they are playing some good cricket. “