"After these performances, they have to be kept for the World Cup"- Sunil Gavaskar on Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya's partnership in IND vs PAK

Former Indian legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar was highly impressed with the way Ishan Kishan played at No. 5 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023 in Kandy on Saturday.

Ishan scored 82 off just 81 balls and it didn't seem that he was batting out of position in the absence of KL Rahul. Gavaskar shed light on the importance of having a left-hander in the middle order and feels India should stick to this No. 5 and No. 6 combination.

Speaking to India Today, here's what Sunil Gavaskar had to say about Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya's crucial partnership:

"I think what he (Ishan) showed was that an opening batter can bat anywhere down the order. An opening batter can be accommodated anywhere down the order, and he brings a left-handed dimension to the Indian batting line. If you could look at the top four, they're all right and then the left hander comes in, so it makes it a little bit difficult for the bowlers. After these performances, they have to be kept for the World Cup."

Gavaskar further added:

"He's (Ishan) got this great ability to accelerate. He looks very, very small, but he packs a punch. He hit a couple of big sixes and the way he batted really was impressive because generally he likes to get after the bowling. But he was watchful when it was needed, recognized, realised what the situation was."

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Madan Lal on Ishan Kishan vs KL Rahul debate

Former Indian all-rounder Madan Lal was also delighted to see Ishan Kishan perform under pressure and feels the team management needs to keep things simple and stick to what is working for them.

On this, he told Sports Tak:

"His (Ishan) performances in the past 5-6 months have been impressive and consistent and has improved his wicketkeeping too. We should not talk about what we don't have at the moment (KL Rahul) because it was said that he was feeling a bit uncomfortable while wicketkeeping. Such knocks under pressure in big games will have given the batters (Ishan and Hardik) a lot of confidence."

With Rahul reportedly set to be available for selection after the match against Nepal, it will be interesting to see if India drop Ishan despite his sensational performance.