Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav
The uncapped duo of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav had a stellar IPL season with Mumbai Indians (MI) this year. Kishan and Yadav ended the tournament at No.5 and No.7 respectively in the leading run-scorers' list. While Kishan made 516 runs at an average of 57.33, Yadav scored 480 at an average of 40.
Both the players were an integral part of the Mumbai franchise's title defence, especially when skipper Rohit Sharma was out for a few games due to his hamstring injury. Following Kishan and Suryakumar's impressive run with the bat, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has said that the two might get a national call-up when England tours India next year.
According to Chopra, the inconsistent patch of Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson might lead to Kishan and Suryakumar finding a place in the Indian T20I set-up. Despite India's 2-1 victory, both Iyer and Samson were unable to deliver in the recent T20I series against Australia.
"Let's be honest, they are not that far. Because Samson got a chance but he could not make use of that. Shreyas Iyer is also going 50-50, his Australian tour has not been that great, in fact, I will call it a slightly disappointing tour," said Chopra on his Facebook page.
Chopra also pointed out that Manish Pandey's future with the Indian T20I side is also on the fringe. "So if we see from that point of view and Manish Pandey's place is also not fully cemented.
"So both Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan are knocking the doors and considering the number of our players that are getting injured, I feel they might even get to play against England," Chopra further said.
Surykaumar was initially expected to get a call-up for India's tour of Australia. However, the national selectors decided to turn their back on the right-hander, leading to a furore on social media. Many fans lashed out at the BCCI and said that Surya deserved a spot in the Indian side, at least in the T20I set-up. Chopra believes it won't be long before Kishan and Surya make their way into international cricket.
"I don't think both of them are too far but if they have another good IPL, which they had in IPL 2020 and if even the 2021 edition goes good, then you will definitely see them play international cricket," he said.
