The biggest piece of disappointment for any cricket fan perhaps not just the die hard admirer of Indian cricket is the fact that as far as the white ball leg of Afghanistan’s tour to India is concerned,
then a certain Virat Kohli is not available. The great man, wisely recognised as among the greatest to have ever played the game and a timeless icon in his own right, picked up an ill timed injury leaving him with very little time to get back in shape and prepare for the three match one day series contests that are part of the tour.
As one would already note that Afghanistan have had anything but a happy tour so far as they lost the one off test match that was part of the series by a huge margin. Losing a test is one thing. But then to lose it by a margin of an inning and 300 runs is something that’s rather horrendous.
With India already having their nose ahead in the series; the narrative shifted to how well could India play in the white ball contests but Kohli’s absence was bound to have impacted the side in a big way.
But ahead of the one day leg of the contests, the big discussion point is who could possibly replace the great man.
And having said that, having said that none other than cricket expert and former player Aakash Chopra has had his say on an extremely talented 27-year-old Ishan Kishan who he believes can do a solid job.
Kishan, as one would note was out of the India side nearly half a year ago. It was a testing period for the blazing left hander but it’s what he did in the aftermath that captured much of everyone’s attention.
Not only did Kishan mark with strong comeback in the T20 World Cup that India happened to win but also followed it up with a strong performance in the recently concluded IPL 2026. That has really sort of birthed a new version of Ishan Kishan. And one that can send the bowlers into a state of tizzy. Which also explains why someone like Aakash Chopra is counting heavily on the left hander to replace the great man and come up with a thumping performance against Afghanistan.
The following is what India’s ardent cricket expert has had to say on the left handed fiery talent
Again, [he’s the] God’s favorite child at this point in time," Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel. “And when he gets the No. 3 spot, I think he’ll score runs. He’s in that kind of form. And whenever doors have opened, unknowingly, it’s Ishan Kishan who walks in. He’s standing there when the door is opened, walks into the team, scores runs, and establishes himself. He always does that."
