Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has strongly backed wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan to secure his place in India’s squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup, declaring him a “complete player” who is now almost impossible to leave out.
Gavaskar’s glowing endorsement follows Kishan’s blistering 125 off just 79 balls—his second One-Day International century, arriving nearly four years after his famous maiden double-hundred. The left-hander’s explosive return to form has shifted the selectors’ focus, earning him a spot in the upcoming ODI squad for the Afghanistan series ahead of high-profile contemporaries Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant.
“I think he’s got his visa already,” Gavaskar remarked. “Somebody else has to really play out of their skin to keep Ishan Kishan out of the team. He’s such a big contributor in the T20 format and he’s batting so well.”
Kishan’s blistering 125 off 79 balls against Afghanistan in Lucknow—where he accelerated from 50 to 100 in a mere 19 deliveries—caps off a sensational run of form across formats in 2026. The left-hander crossed the 1,000-run milestone in ODIs during the knock, carrying forward his rich vein of form from the T20 World Cup earlier this year, where he plundered 317 runs and became the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a half-century in the tournament’s history.
Gavaskar highlighted a noticeable evolution in Kishan’s technical game over the past 18 months, noting that technical flaws that once plagued the batsman have been completely ironed out.
“Look at that shot Graham [Swann] was talking about, the lofted extra-cover drive. He’s got a very good defence as well. Anything short, he’s quick to go on to the back foot and pull it away for sixes,” Gavaskar said.
“He’s just a complete player now, and he’s become a complete player over the last year and a half. Earlier, you thought maybe around the off stump he was a little vulnerable. He didn’t quite have that lofted extra-cover drive. That’s what he’s got now, and it’s so hard to keep him quiet.”
