'Don't confuse IPL with T20Is' - Former India opener decodes Ishan Kishan's inconsistent performance in T20Is

Star India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan had the most successful tour in the West Indies. He has been phenomenal throughout the tour, scoring three back-to-back fifties in the ODI series after hitting a half-century in a Test match. Kishan solidified his spot in the team ahead of the ODI World Cup. He took the opportunity and named himself in the World Cup squad.

However, Kishan failed to replicate his ODI performance in T20I matches and was replaced by Yashasvi Jaiswal in the third game. Speaking about his struggle, former India opener Aakash Chopra said that he hit 50% of his balls. Chopra said that T20 internationals are way too different from the Indian Premier League.

"He has scored a double century in ODI cricket as an opener, but he hasn't fired in T20Is. Let's not confuse T20Is with the IPL," Chopra said on his YouTube channel. "In the IPL, you have a long season of 14 matches. If you bat at the top of the order and are an important player, like Ishan Kishan is for the Mumbai Indians, your place is secured, and you keep on playing in one way or another." You know that there are a lot of matches. So you find your rhythm at some stage", he further added.

"Someone is waiting behind you", Aakash Chopra says about the competition

Further speaking about the competition in international cricket, Chopra said that if someone fails to perform in a series, he starts thinking about his place, which doesn't happen in the IPL. He said, "However when you play T20Is, one series comes in three months. If you don't start well in that series, suddenly you start thinking, Because the number of matches is limited and your place is not yet fully secured, someone or someone else is waiting behind you."

"So if someone is waiting and there is pressure on you, sometimes you forget your template. If you see the current series, he played only two matches, and he has more than 50% dot balls. Ishan Kishan didn't use to play so many dot balls", he further added.

It's worth noting that Kishan has amassed 686 runs in 29 matches, maintaining a middling strike rate of 121.63 and an average of 24.50. In the realm of ODI cricket, however, Kishan has excelled, securing 694 runs in 17 matches with an impressive average of 46.26 and a strike rate of 107.34, a remarkably high figure for the format.