“Selectors lack spine “- Twitterati slams management as they pick Ishan Kishan for first two Tests vs Australia

India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan earned his maiden Test call-up for the first two Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, starting on February 9 in Nagpur. Ishan and KS Bharat will be India’s two wicketkeepers in the series.

Ahead of the series, India suffered a huge blow when power-hitter Rishabh Pant, who is India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter, was hospitalized following a car crash. He will take several months to recover completely. Pant’s car Mercedes hit the divider near Roorkee around 5:30 on December 30. Pant has been a game-changer for India in Test cricket, so it will be interesting to see who, among Kishan and Bharat, can fill his shoes.

India’s squad for first 2 Tests vs Australia:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, C Pujara, V Kohli, S Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 13, 2023

Now that he won’t don the gloves, Kishan, who slammed a double century in ODI last year against Bangladesh has been preferred by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) top brass. But fans are not happy to see Kishan in a squad because they believe that Kishan’s attacking approach to batting naturally makes him only a white-ball player.

They want other wicketkeeper-batters in the squad, like Vidarbha’s Akshay Wadekar and Uttar Pradesh’s Upendra Yadav, who have better records than Kishan in first-class cricket. Wadekar boasts of a 54.56 average in 57 innings, while Upendra has smashed four centuries in 43 innings at an average of 43.84.

Check fans’ reactions:

https://twitter.com/Bharath93252753/status/1613956223036162051

We don't select Red ball team on the basis of white ball performances ???

— * (@_LiveLaughLov) January 13, 2023

Back to normal pathetic selection committee pathetic selections deserving and performing players of ranji sitting out

— Irfan Shaikh (@shaikhirfan177) January 13, 2023

Under performer KL makes into the team. A real shame for players performing in the Ranjis. Selectors lack spine . This happens when failed cricketers are made the selectors.

— anonymous walker (@TweetmistweetA) January 13, 2023

Why BCCI changed the men's selection committee but the selection process does not change, Selection committee selecting team without any performance criteria, it's Sham, Why SKY selected and SK not selected???????

— RAVI RANJAN (@ravi20aug) January 14, 2023

He can't see players how they play. He can only hear names from others to select. pic.twitter.com/hRhMtcc0Jo

— Just4Cricket (@GodLightTruth) January 13, 2023

https://twitter.com/Raman_Kumar22/status/1614144706933567492

Yes for sure and not selecting sarfaraz khan and selecting Ishan Kishan ahead of him makes no sense #chetansharma https://t.co/QSWboasndv

— Arnav (@Arnav_4927) January 14, 2023

Can we trust Ishan Kishan?

— KUMAR SHAILESH ?? (@shaileshh_191) January 14, 2023

Ishan kishan in test is brave call???? Look who is saying!!!! Domestic khelne ki salah Dene Wale "experts". Sarfaraz ko hona chahiye ishan ki jagah atleast Tests me.

— Vipin Singh (@Vipinsinghst) January 14, 2023

Where is Sarfaraz Khan? ?
Ishan Kishan based on white ball form, is this for real? https://t.co/TUnzzdUyQQ

— Anirudh Ramesh (@Anirudh__Ramesh) January 14, 2023

https://twitter.com/Kempegowdashai/status/1614138298297122816

That's The Template @RishabhPant17 Has Set For Test Matches. Selectors looks For Ishan Kishan to do The Power Hitting in Middle. Such a Big Match Winner #RishabhPant Has been.#INDvsAUS

— @kapil vashisht (@kapil_vashisht) January 14, 2023

Ishan Kishan is explosive batter, so good for Test series and T20. KS Bharat is not so good with the bat, so good for ODI series. Sarfaraz is not good for Test series despite stellar first-class record because he didn’t do well in A cricket. #RIP logic #BGT #INDvsNZ

— Pratik প্রতীক پرتیک (@pratik80s) January 14, 2023

@klrahul scored one fifty and they made him vc of the test team no disrespect to suray kumar yadav and ishan kishan but you can not bring them in jus because they havebdone well in the white ball format.then what's the use of playing ranji trophy and scoring runs there?#Sarfaraz https://t.co/QJ2ZgTqWQE

— RØBINHÔÔD (@fahad_saiyed123) January 14, 2023

K S Bharath was ahead in the order, Ishan Kishan fast tracked after a double against Bangladesh. Looks like BCCI will never change.

— crickanalyst (@crickanalyst2) January 14, 2023

Related: Rishabh Pant takes his first walk after surgery; likely to take 6-9 months to recover

Ishan Kishan believes he is an all-format cricketer

The Jharkhand-born cricketer has been in tremendous form in ODIs. But for him, red-ball cricket is also important, and believes he is an all-format cricketer.

“As you know after slamming the 200 against Bangladesh, Jharkhand had a match within a day gap,” Ishan Kishan said in an interview with senior journalist Vimal Kumar. Kishan added that he went to Ranchi and played against Kerala after his ODI double ton, asserting that if he didn’t give importance to Test cricket, he would have rested and prepared for the white ball series against Sri Lanka.

“If you ask me, I’m ready to play for India in three formats. And it’s not that I’ve put in extra effort for it, I’ve scored plenty of runs in red-ball cricket,” the 24-year-old added.

For the record, Kishan has played 83 Ranji Trophy innings and amassed 2985 runs at an average of 38.76 with the highest being a 273-run knock. He has six tons and 16 half-centuries. He had a below-par outing in his last Ranji Trophy match, scoring 13 runs in both innings against Services. Prior to the match against Services, Jharkhand played against Kerala where Kishan scored 132 in one innings and 22 in the other.

The Gavaskar-Border Trophy will be important for the team to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final which is scheduled to take place at the Oval in June this year. Rohit Sharma and Co. need to win at least three matches out of four. If everything goes according to India’s plan, they can clash against Pat Cummins-led Australia in the WTC final.

India’s squad for first 2 Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (C ), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav

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