World Cup 2023: Salman Butt slams India for unjust treatment of Ishan Kishan - 'Even if he scores 1000 runs..'

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Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has stated that India's experiment with Ishan Kishan ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023 was confusing. He said the 25-year-old despite giving his absolute best is not being given any clarity over his role at the World Cup 2023 (in case he is selected).

Notably, in the just-concluded 3-match ODI series against West Indies, Kishan opened the innings with Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma demoted himself in the first match and opted not to play in the last two ODIs.

The move came at a time when India are trying to fix their middle-order conundrum ahead of the ICC marquee event. Not trying out Ishan Kishan for the middle-order slots gave a clear sign that he was being considered for a top-order role which already has Gill, Rohit and Virat Kohli occupying the top three positions.

“I absolutely agree (that India's experiment with Ishan was confusing). One guy being dropped after scoring 200... What's the point? Either they accept the fact that he is the second option, even if he scores 1000 runs in a single innings. That never gives you the feeling of being the best, never gives you the feeling that you will be rewarded for your performances. Currently, the feeling is no matter what you do, you will be the second option,” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.

Kishan scored a fifty in each of the three ODIs against West Indies and was adjudged Man of the Series for his performance. However, the wicketkeeper-batter expressed dissatisfaction, revealing that the seniors had asked him to bat for long after settling in but he failed to do so.

"Not so happy with the finishing that I gave. I was supposed to score big after being set. That's what my seniors told me, I should've stayed in and scored big. That's what I'll try next time, I'll get set in the middle and score big. It's important at this level to get set. It's important to forget the last game and start from 0. I was thinking of taking it one ball at a time. [On Shubman Gill] He's a tremendous player, I've seen how he middles the ball. Seeing him hitting it out of the middle gives me a lot of confidence as well," Kishan had said.

"Always important to win at this level, the learnings from these games are important. We were looking to get early wickets, and didn't let any ball go. Everyone is looking very positive. I've played a few tournaments here and I know how the wickets play here, not really thinking about the next T20 world cup. Focusing on the upcoming tournaments, you know how one tournament can change your life. We're just focusing on that now," he added.

Considering that KL Rahul is yet to prove his fitness, there is a very good chance that Kishan makes it into the Indian World Cup squad as a wicket-keeper batter. He donned the gloves in the second and third ODI despite Sanju Samson featuring in the eleven. He was also India's designated wicketkeeper-batter in the first T20I. However, lack of clarity over his batting position persists.