ODIS: SPOTLIGHT ON PANT, KISHAN
MUMBAI: Promising batsman Rishabh Pant and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan will look to impressing the national cricket selectors when India ‘A’ take on England in the second 50-over warm-up match at the Brabourne stadium here on Thursday.
Pant, who played an important role in India’s runners-up campaign at the Under-19 World Cup in 2016, has made rapid strides to be selected in the Twenty20 squad for the England series.
The 19-year-old Delhi batsman recently slammed four centuries in his first full Ranji season — including a triple hundred against Maharashtra and a 48-ball ton against Jharkhand.
The spotlight will also be shared by another promising player Kishan. The Jharkhand player led India at the Under19 World Cup in 2016 in Bangladesh where they lost to the West Indies in the final. He has produced some fine knocks in the domestic circuit which caught the attention of the selectors.
Among others, focus will also be on veteran Suresh Raina, who is making a comeback after a long hiatus and allrounders Parvez Rasool and Vinay Kumar. All three players will be aiming to hit the
right note ahead of the England series.
The bowling department will also be looking to make an impact in the match as the entire line-up, which failed to perform in the first practice match failing to defend a target of 305 runs, has been changed.
The bowling unit will be spearheaded by experienced pacer Ashoke Dinda and Kumar along with Pradeep Sangwan and off-spinner Rasool. For England, everything went good in the first practice game, which they won by three wickets in Mumbai.
Sam Billings(93), Jason Roy (62), Jos Buttler (46) and Liam Dawson (41) came good for the visitors, who chased down India’s 304-5 with 1.1 overs and three wickets to spare.
They are likely to try out some bowling combinations with an eye for another moraleboosting win ahead a three match One-day International series against India, beginning on Sunday in Pune.