'Ishan Kishan should be India's wicketkeeper in T20 World Cup'

Ishan Kishan

IMAGE: Ishan Kishan smashed an entertaining 32-ball 76 in the second T20I to guide India to a seven-wicket win. Photograph: BCCI

Key Points

Sanju Samson has managed just 40 runs in four matches against New Zealand.
Ishan Kishan, who didn't play the fourth match because of a niggle, has been in great form since coming back into the Indian team.
Kishan is likely to challenge Samson for the opening slot.

With Sanju Samson struggling for runs, former wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel urged India to include the in-form Ishan Kishan ahead of the Kerala batter in the fifth and final T20I against New Zealand, in Thiruvananthapuram, on Saturday.

Samson failed to make most of a promising start, as he was dismissed for 24 from 15 balls in the fourth match in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.

Samson, 31, has managed just 40 runs in four innings since being brought back as the opener.

Kishan, who didn't play the fourth match because of a niggle, has been in great form since coming back into the Indian

team after more than two years. The left-hander smashed an entertaining 32-ball 76 in the second match to guide India to a seven-wicket win.

"If I was part of Team India's think tank, I would play Ishan Kishan over Sanju Samson for the last match of the series. I would make Sanju sit out and go with Ishan as the wicketkeeper-batter. I am choosing this because if I want Ishan as my main keeper for the T20 World Cup, I would give him the keeping gloves in the fifth T20I and the warm-up against South Africa too," Patel told JioHotstar.

With Tilak Varma expected to be fit for the T20 World Cup, he could return to his preferred slot at No. 3, with Kishan likely to challenge Samson for the opening slot.

"It is likely that Tilak Varma will be fit before the World Cup, and reports suggest he will be. If he is fully fit, you have to keep a spot for him. So, if that decision is coming, why wait? Play Ishan Kishan now over Sanju Samson in the final match. Ishan is coming back after two years and has batted well. He will need to keep wickets in the T20 World Cup as well, so why not start now? Even if the last match is at home, for World Cup preparation, I would definitely play Ishan Kishan as the wicketkeeper-opener," Patel said on Jio Hotstar.

Kishan was unstoppable with the bat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, smashing 517 runs from 10 matches at a strike rate of 197.32, with two centuries and as man fifties, to guide Jharkhand to their first ever SMAT title.