3 reasons why India dropping Ishan Kishan from 1st ODI vs Sri Lanka is wrong

Ishan Kishan will not be a part of the Indian playing XI in the upcoming ODI match against Sri Lanka at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday. The left-handed wicket-keeper batter is one of the top young players in the country, but skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid have decided to leave him out of the playing XI.

While the toss for the India vs. Sri Lanka first ODI match is yet to take place, captain Rohit Sharma confirmed at the press conference on Monday that Shubman Gill will open the innings with him, and not Kishan.

Here's what Rohit said:

"It's unfortunate that we won't be able to play Ishan. But looking at how things have panned out for us in the last eight-nine months and how the ODIs have gone through for us, it's fair to give Gill that run and he's done extremely well in that position."

Shubman Gill had a splendid year in ODI cricket in 2022, which is why it would have been harsh on him to be out of the playing XI. However, here are three reasons why India dropping Ishan Kishan from the team is wrong.

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#1 Indian team management is making the same mistake again

The Indian team management has made it a habit to pick players in one format, judging them by their performances in another format. Ishan Kishan recently played three T20Is against Sri Lanka, but he could not make much of an impact. The left-handed batter returned with scores of 37, two & one in the three T20Is.

Since he failed to touch double digits in the last two T20Is, it seems like the team management has prioritized other players over Ishan Kishan. The Indian team has struggled a bit in the recent past due to the management's tendency to pick teams based on the performances in other formats. Fans will hope that this trend ends soon.

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#2 Ishan Kishan scored a double hundred in his last ODI

Ishan Kishan has become the first player in ODI cricket history to be dropped from the playing XI despite scoring a double hundred in his last innings. Kishan's last ODI appearance was against Bangladesh in December 2022.

Bangladesh won the first two ODIs of that three-match series, and the Bangladeshi bowlers troubled almost every Indian batter in the first two ODIs. Ishan Kishan got a chance to play in the third ODI, and he made an instant impact by scoring 210 runs. It was one of the best innings in ODI cricket history, but Kishan unluckily has now been dropped from the playing XI against Sri Lanka.

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#3 Opportunity missed for an experiment?

Captain Rohit Sharma has struggled to score runs at the top of the order in white-ball cricket of late. However, he looked in incredible form when he batted in the lower-middle order because of an injury during his last ODI match. Batting at number nine, Sharma blasted a 28-ball 51* and guided India to an improbable win.

Perhaps, India could have experimented a bit by using Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill as openers, with Rohit Sharma batting in the middle-order. India will play many ODI matches this year. It will be interesting to see if they try out this change in the batting order.