"Ishan Kishan shouldn't face much of an issue"- Wasim Jaffer on the left-hander's weakness 

Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer believes that despite Ishan Kishan's match-up against off-spin, the southpaw may have a great outing with the bat against Sri Lanka. The two sides are set to clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday (January 3).

Ishan is fresh off a sensational double-hundred against Bangladesh and is all set to open for India in the T20Is against Sri Lanka. He has a history of struggling against off-spin and the visitors do have some quality options up their sleeve.

However, Wasim Jaffer recently explained why Ishan Kishan may not have to face too many issues against the off-spin. While speaking to ESPNCricinfo ahead of the first T20I, he said:

"Sri Lanka may use Theekshana and Dananjaya de Silva to try and exploit Ishan Kishan's weakness against off-spin. But in his double hundred against Bangladesh, Ishan dominated Mehidy Hasan and I feel the pitch in Wankhede won't offer much turn anyway. So Ishan Kishan shouldn't face much of an issue."

Jaffer also feels that this series is the beginning of a possible new era of Indian T20 cricket under the leadership of Hardik Pandya. He added:

"Very excited to see Hardik Pandya lead the team. I feel we might see him soon as India's full-time captain going forward. Excited to see how others like Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda perform as they will get opportunities to prove their mettle."

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Suryakumar Yadav is India's X-factor: Wasim Jaffer

Wasim Jaffer feels Sri Lanka will need to dismiss Indian vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav early on Tuesday.

'SKY' has had an unbelievable 2022 in the shortest format and might threaten to continue from where he left off at Wankhede, which is also his home ground.

On this, Jaffer stated:

"It won't be wrong if we say that Suryakumar Yadav is India's X factor. He has played some unbelievable knocks last year and always keeps the opposition captain guessing by playing some outrageous shots. He knows this ground really well and the dimensions are pretty small. So if he gets set, it will be a huge problem for Sri Lanka."

India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (WK), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.