The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to announce India’s squads for the two biggest events of this year- the Asia Cup and the ICC ODI World Cup. Amid all the speculations about the selection, former wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim has named his preferred replacement options for KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
Both cricketers are currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and have been showing significant progress. But if they don’t become fully fit ahead of the marquee events, Karim believes Ishan Kishan can be picked in the place of Rahul, while Suryakumar Yadav can replace Iyer in the middle order.
According to Saba Karim, Ishan Kishan is a versatile player who can bat both as an opener and down in the order. The ex-BCCI selector, however, reckoned that Rahul and Iyer should be considered first if they get fit before the squad announcement.
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“The team will be announced on the 20th from what I know, they (Rahul and Iyer) have the time until then. But if they are not fit, Ishan Kishan is a good option against Rahul since he can bat as an opener and in the middle order,” Karim explained during an interaction with India Today.
While discussing who would be the best option for the No 5 slot, Karim named three batters – Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson. However, the ex-cricketer kept Yadav at the top of his priority list, underlining the senior batter’s rich experience in limited-over cricket.
“If Shreyas Iyer doesn’t become fit, we have 2-3 options to pick from- Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav. But for me, Suryakumar has more experience in playing one-day cricket both domestically and internationally. So, I will still back him,” Karim said.
Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav have been filling the vacant places of Rahul and Iyer for quite some time now. After Rahul sustained a thigh injury during the 2023 IPL, Kishan was called up as a second-choice wicketkeeper behind KS Bharat in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. Meanwhile, Yadav was mostly preferred as a No 3 batter in the white-ball formats since Shreyas Iyer recurred a back injury ahead of the IPL.
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Both Kishan and Yadav were part of the Indian squad that has recently registered a 2-1 victory over West Indies in a three-match ODI series.
Kishan was the star performer for the visitors as he notched up half-centuries in all three matches, aggregating a total of 154 runs. But Yadav looked comparatively pale as he could manage just 78 runs in three appearances.
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