"I would not like to see Sanju Samson get dropped" - Rohan Gavaskar on Ishan Kishan's chances of playing 3rd Ind vs WI ODI

Rohan Gavaskar wants Ishan Kishan to be a part of Team India's playing XI for the final ODI against the West Indies but not at Sanju Samson's expense.

The Men in Blue head into the third game at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Wednesday, July 27 with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. They fielded Samson as the wicketkeeper-batter in the first two games and it will be interesting to see if Ishan is seen donning the gloves in the final ODI.

During an interaction on Sports 18, Gavaskar was asked if Team India should give more chances to Ishan Kishan in ODIs and if he should play the final game. He responded:

"I think he will get chances. One of the things I would not like to see is Sanju Samson get dropped and I tell you why, because everyone talks about Sanju Samson's undoubted quality."

Gavaskar reckons it would be unfair to drop Samson after he has delivered the goods with the bat. The former Indian all-rounder elaborated:

"The only complaint that people have about Sanju Samson is that he isn't consistent enough. Now he has got a fifty in the last game. If you drop him when he is scoring runs, he will be thinking what's going on."

Samson scored 54 runs off 51 deliveries in the second ODI against the Windies. It was the Kerala player's first half-century in ODI cricket and he will want to play an even more substantial knock if given a chance in the final game.

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"I would like to see Ishan Kishan in the playing XI" - Rohan Gavaskar

Ishan Kishan last played an ODI in the home series against West Indies earlier this year

Rohan Gavaskar reckons Ishan could be one of the inclusions in India's XI for the final ODI. He explained:

"So I would not like to see Sanju Samson dropped. I would like to see Ishan Kishan in the playing XI, which I think there will be changes, because we have seen that in the past when Rahul Dravid was the coach of India A, he would like to mix it around."

Gavaskar reckons Rahul Dravid will make wholesale changes for the final ODI. The cricketer-turned-analyst reasoned:

"When he is the coach of the Indian team, he isn't doing that. What he is doing is that he is making sure that he wins the series first. Against South Africa when we lost the first two games, he didn't change the side for the entire series, but once he wins the games, he likes to mix it around. So I think you will see a few changes."

Ishan Kishan, who has scored 88 runs in the three ODIs he has played thus far, is predominantly considered a T20 specialist at the international level. It might be difficult for the team management to accommodate him in the XI for the final game, considering that the incumbent batters are also fighting for a place in India's full-strength ODI side.