Asia Cup 2023 | An Answer to The Ishan-Sanju Conundrum
Ishan Kishan will give India a left-handed option in the upper middle-order (Source: Twitter)
The Indian team is set to take on their arch rivals Pakistan at Pallekele in the Asia Cup on the 2nd of September. With the World Cup around the corner India will be happy to see some big players comeback from injury and some new talent in the last two series. The Indians have had some disappointing setbacks in white ball cricket with an ODI series loss against Australia and losing a bilateral series against West Indies.
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Amidst Pant and Rahul's injury recovery, the hunt intensifies for the ideal keeper-batter replacement this season. The decision will be between the hard hitting Southpaw Ishan Kishan or the elegant right hander Sanju Samson. Both these batters have a decent ODI record so far with Kishan scoring 694 runs in 17 matches at an average of 46.27 and Samson scoring 390 runs in 13 matches at an average of 55.71.
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Batsmanship Battle: Ishan Kishan vs Sanju Samson Performance Face-Off
Ishan & Sanju ODIs Figures in 2023
The decision to pick between these two players will be a big challenge for the staff as both of them have proved themselves as talented players. They also have big shoes to fill, most likely at the number 4 spot. If we take a look at Kishan’s stats in this season so far we can see that he has been more impactful as an opener. With 187 runs from 4 innings at an average of 46.8 is good enough for him to be in the radar of the selectors.
The strike rate of 108.8 is another area which indicates his ability to get off the blocks quickly and put the bowlers under pressure. However his stats at the number 4 position are not as promising with only 30 runs from 3 innings at an average of only 15. The massive strike rate which he had as an opener has also dropped to 63.8.
Sanju Samson on the other hand has not really given a big performance in white ball cricket yet. He has played 2 ODI’s where he has played one at number 3 and one at number 4. The innings he played at number 3 was a forgettable one where scored only 9 runs whereas in the innings at number 4 he showed a bit of promise and scored a brilliant half century.
These numbers show that on the basis of performance and consistency the choice to take Kishan might be better and his aggressive approach might be something India will need to improve their scoring rate in the middle overs.
However his stats at number 4 is something to look at since that might be the position he will play with Rohit and Gill most likely will open the batting. Unlike Kishan, Samson's limited opportunities have revealed inconsistency compared to his impressive domestic record, yet he boasts superior stats at the number 4 position.
Conclusion
India going into the Asia Cup still look to be one of the stronger sides despite some frailties. The Kishan-Samson conundrum is one of the puzzles which they would like to solve now. Overall Kishan seems to be a much better choice if we take some of his recent performances but his inability to build his innings has been a concern. This is where Sanju Samson might be in consideration as he has scored some vital runs at the that position but due to his limited playing time this season it might be difficult for the management to prefer him over Kishan.
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