Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen had gone furious in the commentary box over the absence of Ishan Kishan for the Super Over during the high-octane clash between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday. Despite Mumbai Indians sending two hard-hitting batsmen in Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, Pietersen questioned the logic of not sending the batsman who just scored 99 and would have been able to target the shorter boundaries given his left-handed style. It was only after Mumbai's defeat in the tie-breaker that captain Rohit Sharma explained the reason.
Ishan had single-handedly pulled off the chase until the point Pollard joined in. Amid falling wickets and lack of support, Ishan took off to a cautious start before breaking free with a flurry of boundaries. Pollard later joined and the two together milked 80 runs in the final four overs to pull back Mumbai's innings and force a tie-breaker. En route, Ishan scored 99 and departed in the final over off Navdeep Saini.
Pietersen felt Ishan should have been in the middle for the Super Over, just like Mayank Agarwal should have been during Kings XI Punjab's Super Over against Delhi Capitals last week. But Rohit revealed that Ishan was all tired after his knock.
"He (Kishan) was drained out and was not comfortable. We thought we could send him but he was not feeling fresh. Hardik is somebody we trust to hit long balls, it is not coming off but we are confident he can pull things off for us. I mean 7 runs you need to have luck on your side, we had to get wickets but there was also an unfortunate boundary," he said.
Navdeep Saini conceded only seven runs while picking the wicket of Pollard in the Super Over. RCB's pair of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli pulled off the total in six balls to manage a great escape in the high-scoring game.
