"He is going to bat with Rohit Sharma at the top of the order for a very long time" - Sanjay Bangar on Ishan Kishan 

Former all-rounder Sanjay Bangar has lavished praise on Ishan Kishan and backed him to feature in Team India's top order for the foreseeable future. The southpaw gained massive strides with his performances of late, with his historic double hundred against Bangladesh standing out.

Opening the innings in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was nursing an injury, Kishan made full use of the opportunity to cast his name for the 2023 ODI World Cup squad.

Prior to the historic knock against Bangladesh in Chattogram, the left-handed batter had made a decent start to his ODI career with three fifties from nine innings.

With Shikhar Dhawan seemingly not in the scheme of things anymore, Bangar backed Kishan to slot in at the top of the order in a straight swap. He said on Star Sports:

"As far as who is going to open with Rohit Sharma in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, I think it is a no-brainer. It has to be Ishan Kishan, for the kind of form he showed in the Bangladesh series."

Bangar continued:

Not only that, but for the way he played the South African pacers when they came to India. He was impressive then and he is going to bat with Rohit Sharma at the top of the order for a very long time."

Kishan had a relatively good outing during the three-match home series against South Africa. He scored a well-compiled 93-run knock in the second ODI in his hometown of Ranchi to help India script a seven-wicket win and remain alive in the series.

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"I feel KL Rahul might not be part of the playing XI at the moment in 50-over cricket" - Sanjay Bangar

The emergence and consistency of batters across the top order as well as the middle order makes it difficult to consider KL Rahul's potential spot and role in the ODI playing XI.

He featured in both roles across the year, but in the most recent set of outings against Bangladesh, Rahul was slotted into the middle order. However, the selection call back then was straightforward in the absence of Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav.

Admitting that he does not see Rahul making it into the playing XI in ODIs, Bangar said:

"Taking into account the success that Ishan Kishan has had at the top of the order, will mean that KL Rahul will have to fight for a place in the playing XI. I feel KL Rahul might not be part of the playing XI at the moment in 50-over cricket and hence, Hardik Pandya's elevation to vice-captaincy."

Rahul has been selected for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, beginning on January 10.

Will the wicket-keeper batter feature in the ODI playing XI going forward? Let us know what you think.

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