Rohit Sharma clears the air on Ishan Kishan's batting position and team combination

Rohit Sharma (Source: Twitter)

After a magnificent ODI series against Sri Lanka, the Indian team now brace up for the Kiwi challenge as the New Zealand side will be touring the subcontinent for three ODIs and as many T20 matches beginning on 18th January.

The matches against the Lankan nation saw Shubman Gill opening the batting with skipper Rohit Sharma, finding southpaw Ishan Kishan sitting on the bench, despite scoring a magnificent double-century against Bangladesh last month. This caused a lot of debate and speculation on Kishan's future with the world cup looming large.

However, now in the absence of  KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, the Patna-born is set to be drafted into the playing XI and will be featuring in the middle order, confirmed Sharma on the eve of the 1st ODI in Hyderabad.

“In terms of Ishan, he will be batting in the middle-order. I am glad he could get a run here after that fine knock in Bangladesh,”

Further, when asked about the team strategy of playing different players in the lower order to manage the balance, Rohit said that they want to ensure that they get the combination right. 

He mentioned that they were looking to bring in all-rounder Shardul Thakur who could add depth to their batting order.

“Preferably, we don’t want to compromise on anything. You want to play your best XI. That is something that is going to be challenging for us - No. 8, No. 9, which is why we brought Shardul (Thakur) in. His ability with the bat can give us that edge at No. 8. But yeah, this is one aspect where we can be challenged if we lose wickets in the middle.”

The first match of the three-game series will be played at Rajiv Gandhi International cricket stadium in Hyderabad.

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