India's next challenge in limited-overs cricket will see them face off against New Zealand in three ODIs and as many T20I matches, and skipper Rohit Sharma has opened up on the inclusion of Ishan Kishan, who was unfortunate to miss out on playing for the side during their recently concluded Sri Lanka series whitewash at home.
Rohit confirmed that Kishan, who scored a double ton in his last ODI innings in the series against Bangladesh, will be accommodated in the middle order. "Kishan will be batting in the middle order and I am glad he could get a run here after that fine knock in Bangladesh," he said.
"I don't want to compromise on anything honestly," Rohit answered when asked about playing seven batters and four specialist bowlers.
Rohit also emphasised the importance of a deep batting order to counter any challenge that Team India might face in case they lose early wickets. "You want to play your best eleven at the end of the day. Number eight and nine is going to be a challenge for us, someone who can bat at that point. That is why we got Shardul in, he can give us that edge at number eight. That is one aspect where we can be challenged if we lose early wickets or in the middle order," Rohit said.
"It is something that can worry you. But having said that if you have good seven batters who can do the job for us in any situation then you can look at playing combinations as well," he added.
Rohit also discussed the role of his spinners and the thought process that goes into selection for the Playing XI, "We will be playing (World Cup) all over India in different conditions. We need to assess everything. Whether we can play with three spinners. Luckily we have got spinners who can bat — Axar, Washy (Sundar), Shahbaz and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja).
"Those are the guys that can give us the depth that we are looking for but not to forget the two quality wrist spinners also that we have," he said referring to Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
