Following their superb debuts for the national side in the ongoing T20I series against England, former India batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar lauded Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav and reckoned they are ‘ready’ to play the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“There is no question how talented both (Kishan and Suryakumar) the players are,” Tendulkar told Reuters in a telephonic interview.
Both Suryakumar and Kishan hit match-winning fifties in the ongoing five-match T20I series. While Kishan smashed a 32-ball 56 in the second T20I, Surya hit 57 off 36 balls in his first international outing with the bat. Kishan and Surya bagged the man of the match for their performances.
Adding further, Tendulkar thanked IPL for the growth of the two players. He said that playing with overseas stars in the IPL has helped them get the exposure to play for the national side at the biggest stage.
“It eventually boils down to selection and the selection committee. But I can say that having played in IPL against all the leading foreign players, they are ready to play (in the Twenty20 World Cup). What IPL has done is it has given exposure to players to play against the leading players in the world.” he added.
Tendulkar – who has worked with both the players in the Mumbai Indians set-up – shared his observation on Kishan.
“Before the last IPL season, when Ishan was practising in the nets, there were a number of things which one could see. He was trying to get his bat swing (right), and be mentally stable. From there on, how he has progressed is remarkable,” he added further.
Just after the England home series is over, the IPL would start. The T20 World Cup squad would in all probability be picked after the IPL.
The 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be the seventh ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament, scheduled to be played in October and November 2021 in India. Originally, the tournament was to be held in Australia from 18 October to 15 November 2020.