Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer PtiImage Credit source: PTI
The series of 5 T20 matches between India and New Zealand is starting from January 21 in Nagpur. Before this series, the question was arising that who would get a place in the playing-11 in place of injured Tilak Verma. For this, Team India has two contenders in the form of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. But who will get the chance? The answer to this question has been found and captain Suryakumar Yadav himself has clarified everything. In the first match of the series, only left-handed batsman Ishan Kishan will be given a place in the playing-11. This means that despite returning to the team, Iyer will have to wait for his turn.
The first match of the series will be played on Wednesday at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. With this match, Ishan Kishan’s 786 day long ‘exile’ in Team India will end. Ishan Kishan, who played his last match for Team India in any format (T20 against South Africa) on 28 November 2023, will finally be seen in the jersey of ‘Man in Blue’ again.
In the press conference a day before the match, Captain Surya revealed that Ishan Kishan will be a part of the playing eleven in this series and also announced that he will bat at number three. Surya made it clear that Ishan Kishan is included in the World Cup squad, hence he is entitled to play. The Indian captain himself will be seen batting at number four in this series. However, it is not completely clear whether Iyer will get a chance in even a single match in this series or not.
(News is being updated)