The Indian Cricket Board announced on Monday that Ishan Kishan has been named as KL Rahul’s replacement in India’s Test Championship final lineup against Australia. The Test Championship final will begin on June 7 at the Oval in London. Kishan, who is yet to play a Test match for India, was picked to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad earlier this year. The southpaw, however, did not receive a game.
Kishan will be the second wicket-keeper after KS Bharat in Rahul’s absence due to a thigh injury. Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav, injured during the current IPL 2023 season, have also been picked in the squad. According to the Indian Cricket Board, their participation would be decided later.
Unadkat suffered a left shoulder injury after tripping over the side rope while bowling for the Lucknow Super Giants in the nets. Meanwhile, Umesh suffered a slight left hamstring injury while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders. In addition, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar, and Suryakumar Yadav have been named as Standbys ahead of the match.
In the meantime, fans were unpleased with Indian Cricket Board’s decision to include Kishan in the side. Many suggested that the in-form Wriddhiman Saha should have been called up to the Indian team once again. On the other hand, others suggested that Sarfaraz Khan deserved a chance in the team.
Certain were pleased with the choice, even going so far as to claim that having another left-hander on the team will be critical in dealing with Australia‘s bowling lineup. “Need 2 left hand Batters badly to play against Cummins and Hazelwood. Or else it will be very tough to handle,” a user wrote on Twitter.
India’s squad for Test Championship final
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).
Standby players: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav.
Here is how fans reacted to Ishan Kishan’s inclusion
Ishan Kishan & SKY selected ahead of Sarfaraz Khan & Saha. Rohit Era ??
— Sayam Ahmad (@sayam_ahmad_) May 8, 2023
Why not Saha?
— Saurabh Jaiswal (@cricrazy100rbh) May 8, 2023
Replaced Gold with copper.
— Sagar Nandal (@SagarNandal14) May 8, 2023
?? Like to like replacement in amount of runs
— Anubhav (@incognito_ffs) May 8, 2023
Saha deserves it ?
— ??? #LEO (@Goatcheeku_18) May 8, 2023
He will travel to England just to sit on the dugout
— Amlan Talukdar (@AmlanTalukdar6) May 8, 2023
— Bhupender Thakur (@MisterBeeTee) May 8, 2023
Need 2 left hand Batters badly to play against Cummins and Hazelwood
Or else it will be very tough to handle
— PUSHPA THE RULE ? (@sreekanth2245) May 8, 2023
WC ka option bhi miljayega. good. Surya misses out.
— Akshay Shah – Founder CEO, iWebTechno (@AkshayiWeb) May 8, 2023
I will never understand how BCCI's selection works?
— Pooh (@ThodaYehThodaWo) May 8, 2023
