Rohit Sharma reveals his opening partner for the first ODI

Indian limited overs skipper Rohit Sharma has revealed his opening partner for the upcoming 3 match ODI series against West Indies. Team India has been hit by Covid-19 as openers Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad tested positive along with Shreyas Iyer.

Captain Rohit said that Ishan Kishan will open alongside him in the first ODI as he is the only option available as Mayank Agarwal who joined the team late, serving his mandatory quarantine period.

“Ishan Kishan is the only option we have and he will open with me,” Rohit Sharma revealed ahead of the series opener at Narendra Modi Stadium.

“Mayank [Agarwal] is still in isolation. Some rules in place, players travelling need to be put into quarantine. [Ishan opens] Unless there’s an injury,” said Rohit in the pre-match press conference. 

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Ishan Kishan played just 2 ODIs for India and scored 60 runs with a highest score of 59 powered by a strike rate of 130.43.

India is set to become the first ever International side to feature in 1000 ODI matches.Having played 999 ODIs – India won 518 and lost 438 matches.

“There is not a lot that we need to change, we just need to adapt to different situations of the game. We have played good ODI cricket over the course of the past few years, one series loss is not the reason for us to panic. South Africa series was a great learning curve for us in terms of we did not do collectively as a team,” said Rohit.

“It is always important that everyone comes together. Going forward, the role clarity of certain individuals is important in the squad. If we can talk to the individuals about it, then we can get what we want at a different points from different individuals,” he added.

All the ODI matches (Feb 6, 9 & 11) will be played at Narendra Modi Stadium.