Former India cricketers Gautam Gambhir and Mohammad Kaif were involved in a heated exchange on live TV over KL Rahul versus Ishan Kishan debate. The heated debate took place after Ishan Kishan impressed once again.
On Saturday (September 2), Ishan Kishan gave the Indian team-management another solid reason to not drop him from the playing eleven by playing a fighting knock in the India vs Pakistan game in Pallekele. India were reeling at 66 for 4 at one stage when Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya joined hands and rescued the team by scoring fighting fifties.
Ishan Kishan did not let India enter a defensive mode after the poor start with the bat and kept the team on track for a good total. He was eventually dismissed for 82 runs off 81 balls and after sharing a brilliant 138-run stand with Hardik Pandya who scored 87 runs off 90 balls. Ishan Kishan’s knock was studded with 9 fours and 2 sixes.
Thanks to the knocks from the wicketkeeper-batsman and the allrounder, India recovered from 66 for 4 to post 266. The Men in Blue could have scored more but failed to finish their innings strongly as they lost their last five wickets for just 27 runs. The second half of the match did not take place as rain brought a premature end to the game.
Gautam Gambhir and Mohammad Kaif involved in heated debate:
As Ishan Kishan impressed with the bat once again, Gautam Gambhir and Mohammad Kaif turned on each other on live TV. Many believe that Ishan Kishan should be preferred ahead of KL Rahul after his impressive displays in recent times. On the other hand, many have opined that Rahul should be rewarded for his consistent displays before he suffered the injury.
And as far as Mohammad Kaif is concerned, he has backed Rahul, saying: “Kl Rahul is a proven match-winner. At No. 5, his numbers are fabulous. So Rahul Dravid knows, there is that clarity in his mind that…remember, Mohammed Shami was dropped today. So, when KL Rahul is fit again, he will be playing in the XI and Ishan Kishan will have to wait for his next opportunity.
Ishan is doing all that he needs. He scored in that series against West Indies…his graph is only going up and is getting better by the day. He has a double century to his name as well. He has class and talent but he cannot replace Rahul yet because the latter is nit playing because of bad form, but due to an injury,” added Kaif while speaking on Star Sports.
Gautam Gambhir, however, was not at all impressed with Kaif. The former batsman, who had recently said that the team-management should give priority to form over reputation, hit back at Kaif and said: “To win the World Cup, name is more important or form?” Kaif was at complete loss for words. The former India opener then explained his question saying that had one between Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma been in place of Ishan now, would he have made that same remark about Rahul.
“Had Kohli or Rohit made those four consecutive fifties, would you have said the same thing about KL Rahul? When you are preparing to win a World Cup, you don’t look at a name, you look at the form of a player that could win you the trophy,” added Gautam Gambhir.
Kaif briefly interrupted Gautam Gambhir by saying: “India will then have to wait” before the World Cup-winning opener said:
“Ishan has done everything possible to become the frontrunner. We are only making this argument because he hasn’t played as many international matches as Rahul. There have been many players who have lost their spot in the team due to injuries because their replacement player performed impressively.
“Few had to wait for their chances while other did not even get another chance. This is the reality. Yes Rahul is a proven player at No. 5 but for Ishan, who has never batted at that position comes in and score 82 against a bowling attack like Pakistan under that pressure, then you cannot compare the two at all.”
Rahul did not play against Pakistan as he is still carrying a niggle. The wicketkeeper-batsman will also miss the game against Nepal and Kishan will have another opportunity to impress the team-management. India will lock horns against Nepal on September 4.
The post IND vs PAK: Gautam Gambhir And Mohammad Kaif Involved In Heated Altercation On Live TV Over KL Rahul vs Ishan Kishan Debate appeared first on CricketAddictor.
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