"You might start thinking if you should open with Rahul" - Aakash Chopra lauds Ishan Kishan's performances in the IND-SA T20I series

Aakash Chopra feels Ishan Kishan's excellent performances in the T20I series against South Africa might force the Indian team management to consider him as Rohit Sharma's opening partner instead of KL Rahul.

Kishan smashed 206 runs at an excellent strike rate of 150.36 in the five T20Is against the Proteas. He hit two half-centuries in the series, with a top score of 76.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked Team India's top performers in the recently concluded series. He chose Ishan Kishan at the top of the pack, elaborating:

"The one on top of the list is Ishan Kishan. Only three openers can go if you talk about a squad, Rohit and Rahul are generally the first two choices. In fact, he has played so well that you might start thinking if you should open with Rahul or send him down the order, and open with Ishan for the left and right-hand combination."

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the Mumbai Indians opener bounced back brilliantly from a middling IPL 2022. Aakash Chopra explained:

"The dominance with which Ishan Kishan played was enjoyable. There was a discussion during the IPL that he is under some pressure. You can say that he didn't ask for money but the pressure of money is there. I am not saying Mumbai Indians put any pressure on him but it is self-imposed. But now he has done well."

Kishan did not have a great IPL for the Mumbai Indians. He still finished as the franchise's top run-getter, although his 418 runs came at a slightly below-par strike rate of 120.11.

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"He demolished them in Cuttack" - Aakash Chopra on Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was chosen as the Player of the Series [P/C: BCCI]

Aakash Chopra picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar as India's second-best performer, saying:

"At No. 2 is Bhuvi. He took six wickets, 4/13 was his best, he demolished them in Cuttack. He picked up three wickets in the powerplay. India probably picked up six wickets in total, of which four were his. Of course, in a losing cause but he was brilliant. Along with six wickets, economy was 6.07."

Chopra said the swing bowler has enhanced his chances of being picked in Team India's T20 World Cup squad. He observed:

"The question was whether Bhuvneshwar Kumar will go for the T20 World Cup. You have not got 100% answer to that question, that is not there for anyone, it is not just him but he has made an extremely strong case for himself, that if you are taking Bumrah and Shami, why not me?"

Aakash Chopra added that Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar are likely to compete for one spot in India's World Cup squad. However, with the former hors de combat at the moment, the veteran bowler from Meerut has stolen a march over him.