Ishan Kishan added to India's squad for West Indies ODIs: Reports
Young wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has been added to India's squad for the upcoming three-ODI series against West Indies, according to news agency PTI.
Kishan was originally only included in the squad for the T20I series that'll follow the ODIs. He's now become the second player after Mayank Agarwal to get an emergency call-up due to a COVID-19 outbreak that hit the Indian team on Wednesday.
Seven members of the Indian contingent, including senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, reserve opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and net bowler Navdeep Saini tested positive for the virus during their mandatory isolation period.
Dhawan and Gaikwad's absence opened up a spot at the top of the order which led to Agarwal's call-up. But the Punjab Kings player is currently undergoing a three-day isolation period and will only be available on the day of the first match - February 6. Therefore, the team decided to bring Ishan Kishan into the scheme of things.
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Ishan Kishan future big star ⭐️ twitter.com/mipaltan/statu…
The pugnacious left-handed batter made his ODI debut last year against Sri Lanka, famously hitting a six off his first ball. Opening the innings, he hit a quickfire 42-ball 59 in that game, becoming the only Indian to score half-centuries on both ODI and T20I debuts. He played just one more game in the series, scoring just one off four balls.
Ishan Kishan's List A record
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The 23-year-old has played 79 List A games, scoring over 2,600 runs at an average of 36.74 and a strike rate of over 92. An important member of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, he also has 1065 runs in the T20 league, with an average and strike rate of 28.47 and 136.34 respectively.
If selected ahead of Agarwal, he'll form an exciting combination with Rohit Sharma at the top. A good run in this series might even help the youngster stake his claim for the 2023 ODI World Cup.