Ishan fireworks, stunning crowd and shortcomings

India and New Zealand played the final of the five-match T20I series at the Kariavattom Greenfield Stadium on January 31. India posted their third-highest team total in this format and won the match by 46 runs. Ishan Kishan, who scored his first T20I century, captain Suryakumar Yadav, who scored his third half-century of the series, Abhishek Sharma and Hardik Pandya, who batted well, and Arshdeep Singh, who took five wickets, entertained the fans in Kariavattom.

In this series, Sanju was included in the team as an opener, the position he desired. For this, the selectors had to replace even the regular captain in Tests and ODIs, Shubman Gill. Despite being offered a glorious opportunity, Sanju couldn’t rise up to the moment. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan, who was included in this series and the World Cup team as Sanju's backup wicketkeeper, really made the most of the opportunity. This is Ishan’s first return to the team after voluntarily exiting in 2023, in protest over not being given enough chances.

Considering Ishan's performance as a wicketkeeper in Kariavattom, it is likely that the youngster could replace Sanju as the first-choice batsman in the World Cup. However, this series alone won’t be sufficient to write off the Malayali cricketer. Sanju has come a long way in his career. The pressure put on his back before the home turf match was unimaginable. Meanwhile, the team management is awaiting the return of Tilak Verma. If Sanju takes advantage of the opportunities that come his way, he can save his career without ruining it.

While appreciating the efforts of the Kerala Cricket Association to maintain the Kariavattom Stadium, it is impossible to turn a blind eye to some shortcomings that happened during the match. It was not right to make those who had paid for tickets stand in queues for hours and to charge more than ten times the price for drinking water in the gallery. The tickets were sold out within hours after it was made available online. However, those who arrived at the stadium beaming with enthusiasm faced an ordeal of standing in line for hours in the sweltering heat. Similarly, there were complaints of a lapse in issuing passes to former players, coaches and Cricket Association office bearers to watch the match.

In any case, the KCA's action announcing an investigation as soon as complaints were raised about the drinking water problem is commendable. Beyond the investigation, precautions are needed to prevent such complaints from arising when matches are held here.