Christchurch: Indian wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of Saturday’s second T20 International against New Zealand here due to a right adductor strain that he sustained during the series-opener.
India won the opening match by four wickets here on Thursday.
“Ishan Kishan is ruled out of the second T20I against New Zealand due to a low grade right adductor strain, which he sustained during the first T20I of the series,” the BCCI statement read.
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak raised doubts regarding Ishan Kishan’s participation in Saturday’s match at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.
“There was a lot of speculation; I have also seen, just because Ishan had a strain in his groin, the batting order was changed,” he told reporters.
Kotak also said that it is “unlikely he (Kishan) will play tomorrow’s (Saturday) match as well”.
On Friday, BCCI formally confirmed that Kishan has been ruled out of action for the second match as their statement read, “Ishan Kishan is ruled out of the second T20I against New Zealand due to a low-grade right adductor strain, which he sustained during the first T20I of the series. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress.”
With Kishan missing out, India could replace him with the 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in their playing XI in the second match of the series.
Speaking about Sooryavanshi, Kotak had said, “If Ishan doesn’t play, unless he recovers completely, which the medical team will advise, Vaibhav could definitely step in for him. He is one of the strongest contenders.”
The teenager has already left his mark in the T20 format through his aggressive style of playing in the top batting position. He has scored 776 runs for Rajasthan Royals in IPL and has played for India in eight T20Is, aggregating 246 runs at a strike rate of 186.36, including two half-centuries.
Sooryavanshi was not a part of India’s plans for the 1st T20I. India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer had earlier mentioned that the young cricketer had to wait for his chance due to the consistency of the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson.
