“Ishan Kishan would be a little disappointed with his performances” - Wasim Jaffer urges Team India batter to step up

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer reckons that young batter Ishan Kishan will be disappointed with his failures in the white-ball matches against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. According to Jaffer, the southpaw needs to do some work on his consistency as well as his game against spin.

While Team India beat both New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the limited-overs contests, Kishan failed to register a single half-century across nine innings. The 24-year-old scored 37 in the first T20I against Sri Lanka at the start of last month. Since then, he has not even reached the 20-run mark in any of his visits to the crease.

Kishan featured in all three ODIs and T20Is against the Kiwis, but could not deliver the results. In the deciding T20I against New Zealand on Wednesday, February 1, in Ahmedabad, he was trapped lbw for one by Michael Bracewell. Analyzing Kishan’s woes, Jaffer said during a discussion on ESPNcricinfo:

“Ishan Kishan would be a little disappointed with his performances. His inconsistency and his ability to play spin, he needs to step up in that department. Otherwise, all the guys who played in this series, there were lots of positives coming out of the Indian team and players.”

Following an impressive T20I debut in March 2021, Kishan has failed to live up to expectations in the format. In 27 matches, he has scored 653 runs at an average of 25.11 and a strike rate of 122.74.

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“He wants to play for the team” - Wasim Jaffer lauds Rahul Tripathi

Like Kishan, Rahul Tripathi was also under pressure heading into the decider against the Kiwis in Ahmedabad. However, he came in and played a whirlwind knock, hammering 44 in only 22 balls. The innings gave India momentum after Kishan’s early dismissal.

Praising Tripathi for his performance, Jaffer also paid him a massive compliment, saying:

“For somebody playing in only his 4th or 5th T20I game, it feels really nice that he has got that selfless approach. He wants to play for the team and he got the Indian innings going with his approach. (Shubman) Gill took over; everybody had little cameos. But Tripathi has to be given a lot of credit.

“The acceleration was set up by Tripathi. His cameo off 44 in 20-odd balls started things for India. The way he took the bowlers on with his powerplay onslaught, it was great to see.”

After Kishan’s dismissal in the second over, Gill and Tripathi added 80 runs for the second wicket at a rapid pace. The Men in Blue went on to post 234/4 before bowling out New Zealand for a mere 66 in 12.1 overs.