"Will Definitely Be There": Ricky Ponting Backs Under-Fire India Star For World Cup Spot

Australia legend Ricky Ponting believes India will have space for both KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan in their World Cup squad, adding that Kishan appears to be a necessary option given he is a left-handed batter. There was speculation about who'd take gloves for Team India after star keeper Rishabh Pant's unfortunate accident ruled him out of cricketing action for several months. "Look, I do think they'll stick with him. I think in their World Cup squad, KL will definitely be there," Ponting said in the latest episode of ICC Review.

"I think Ishan Kishan should definitely be there as well to give another left-handed batting option because if you look back to game three, they promoted Axar and Jadeja ahead of Surya because of Ashton Agar and the balls spinning away from the right-handers," he added.

While KL Rahul has donned the role in recent ODIs, Ishan Kishan continues to remain a part of the India limited-overs setup.

"With Rishabh not being there now, they might think of maybe wanting to play a specialist left-handed batter in the middle order which I think would have to be Ishan Kishan in some role, whether that's at No.4 or No.5.

"Just to negate teams that have got left-arm off-spin because when you look at the spinners around the world now, there are very few right-arm off-spinners in ODIs and T20Is.

"You need to have left-handers through your middle order. Most sides will have left-arm off-spin and right-arm leg spin and if you've only got right-handers through the middle order, it's a lot harder for those guys to play it."

"So I think they'll go into that World Cup with the two keepers in their squad and they'll make the decision on what they need as far as their batting is concerned," the former Australia captain.