Ishan Kishan is Hot Contender as Wicketkeeper-Batsman in Team India -MSK Prasad

Former chief selector of India MSK Prasad believes that Ishan Kishan is a strong contender for Team India’s limited-overs wicketkeeper-batsman after his brilliant performance in the recently concluded IPL 2020. 22-year-old Ishan Kishan performed brilliantly with the bat and played a key role in it. Ishan enjoyed his most illustrious season of the IPL, as he showed his batting abilities once again.

Despite not being part of the playing XI for the first two matches, he scored more runs than Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma and in-form Suryakumar Yadav. Ishan Kishan finished the IPL 2020 with 516 runs at an average of 57.33 and a strike-rate of 145. Overall, he was the fifth-highest run-scorer in IPL 2020 despite playing the fewest matches among the top ten run-scorers of this season. He also hit maximum 30 sixes in the 13th edition of Indian Premier League.

After Ishan Kishan’s brilliant performance in IPL 2020, MSK Prasad praised the young player. The former India wicketkeeper, who was selected as the chief selector last year, praised Kishan’s adaptability and temperament. Kishan scored the match-winning fifty after being asked to open the innings in the absence of injured Rohit Sharma. Prasad said that Kishan’s ability to switch gears as per the team’s requirements’ makes him a firm contender for the wicketkeeper-batsman role for Team India.

“It’s really fantastic to see this pocket dynamite in action. He had a fantastic IPL. Batting at No. 4 and later opening the innings, shows his adaptability and temperament. His ability to switch gears as per the team’s requirements will definitely place him as a hot contender for the wicketkeeper-batsman slot for Team India in both T20s & ODIs in times to come,” MSD Prasad told Times of India.

“If he can keep wickets well and bat the same way he did in the IPL, he will be a welcome addition to the national squad.”

Under MSK Prasad, Ishan Kishan became an India A regular and has kept his spot. Meanwhile, Kishan will return to the field for Jharkhand in the 2020/21 domestic season.