IND vs SL: Rohit Sharma weighs in on left-handed vs right-handed batters after Ishan Kishan exclusion

Even though Rohit Sharma agreed that a left-hander in the top six would add variation but the Team India skipper made it clear that he isn’t too keen on changing some of the in-form batters just for the heck of it and won’t revamp the batting line-up until necessary.

India on Thursday clinched the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka by winning the low-scoring second ODI by four wickets, however, a top six with only right-handers is indeed making this line-up predictable.

Notably, southpaw Ishan Kishan, the fastest double centurion in ODIs has been benched as the team management wanted to give opener Shubman Gill a long run for showing consistency during the whole of 2022.

”In hindsight, it will be nice to have a left-hander in the top-order but guys who are being given the chance have got a lot of runs in the last one year,” Rohit didn’t beat around the bush about the fact that Kishan will have to wait for his next opportunity.

”Ideally, we would like to have a left-hander but we know the quality of our right-handers and are quite comfortable with that at the moment,” Rohit was even more precise in his next statement.

He did praise KL Rahul, the man whose inclusion is keeping both Suryakumar Yadav and Kishan out of the XI. In a low-scoring chase, Rahul’s 64 off 103 balls turned out to be decisive and the Indian captain was pleased as punch.

”It was a close game but games like these teach you a lot. KL has been batting at 5 for a long time now, it gives you that confidence when an experienced batter is batting at 5. It was a good display of batsmanship.”

Rohit also praised leggie Kuldeep Yadav, who bagged three crucial wickets in the match, and said that he ‘literally got us back in the game’.

“For him (Kuldeep Yadav) to come back and play the game he played today, it was fantastic. Literally got us back in the game. They were batting run-a-ball and Kuldeep, as we’ve seen quite often, comes and gets the wicket. He’s quite confident as a bowler right now and it definitely augurs well with the team,” Rohit said.

Rohit didn’t give any information if he is looking to change the combination in the next game.

”We will have a look at the pitch for the third ODI, and another ODI series is coming up as well. So we will see if we need to make any changes.”

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka rued a lack of runs on the board which ultimately cost visitors the match.

“Not enough runs on the board. We got a good start with the bat and then lost a few wickets. We discussed that it was a very flat deck. 300+ was the score to set, but Kuldeep bowled really well in the middle phase. Batsmen not getting starts is a big concern,” Shanaka said.

(With PTI inputs)

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