Sanjay Manjrekar wants Virat Kohli to bat at No.4 to give Ishan Kishan a chance in the Indian batting line-up in the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand. However, India will play three ODIs against New Zealand, with the first match being played on Wednesday, January 18 in Hyderabad. With KL Rahul unavailable for the series, Kishan is likely to play as the wicketkeeper-batsman.
“It’s still going to be difficult. One guy is going to be really upset. I have an idea to sort out the mess,” Manjrekar said during a conversation on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’. Shubman Gill at No.3 bats, he feels he can handle that position, and then Virat Kohli drops his No.3 for No.4. He did it once against Sri Lanka many years ago with Ambati Rayudu. So it There might be a way to sort this out.After Ishan Kishan’s double ton, a left and right arm combination at the top is not such a bad idea.
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Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan has opened only twice in the nine ODI innings he has played so far. He has also batted at No.3 on four occasions and at No.4 thrice. Sanjay Manjrekar also feels that Kishan’s presence at the top of the order will help Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli as well.
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He said, ‘You have to take advantage of Ishan Kishan’s current form and the kind of explosion he does. Always helpful for guys like Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli if you can see someone come in and get 50 off 30 balls. Then in the bottom order, how do you fix the middle order – I don’t know. Suryakumar Yadav is back in the 50-over fold. He’s in the Test team as well, so it’s great. Shreyas Iyer will have to play before Suryakumar Yadav, it is going to be difficult,” concluded Sanjay Manjrekar.
