Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan couldn't have asked for a better platform to stage his comeback. Pushed to the top of the batting lineup of Mumbai Indians, in their chase of 91, Ishan smashed a 25-ball 50 to help the defending champions put on a dominant show in their eight-wicket win in Sharjah. Ishan's imposing show helped Mumbai reach the target with 11.4 overs to spare as they kept their playoff hopes alive.
Ishan managed only 107 runs in his first nine games this season, at a strike rate of 89.99, his worst in any IPL season. His boundary rate of 15, during those nine games, is the worst among batters who have at last faced 100 deliveries this season. Following his poor run of form, Ishan was dropped for four games before Mumbai brought him back into the XI for the Sharjah clash. The reason behind the selection, as explained by captain Rohit Sharma, was to add more pacers to the lineup given the performance of the variety at the venue. Ishan replaced Quinton de Kock at the top of the order while James Neesham was brought in place of Krunal Pandya, the inclusion of whom would also add batting depth to the lineup.
Asked to return to his familiar position, at the top of the batting lineup, with no scoreboard pressure amid a small chase, Ishan grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Ishan got off to yet another sluggish start, taking seven deliveries to get off the mark, and teed off after the dismissal of Rohit in the fourth over with a boundary slapped through cover against Chetan Sakariya. He laced five boundaries and three sixes to score a 25-ball half-century in Mumbai's eight-wicket win.
Ishan credited his discussion with Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard for his return to form.
"In fact I had a chat with Virat bhai, Hardik bhai.. everyone was there to support me. I had a chat with KP (Pollard) who said you just need to keep things simple, bat the way you used to do, just watch the videos of what you did in the last season. I watched a few videos of my batting and that gave me a bit of confidence," Ishan said in the post-match presentation.
With the win, Mumbai have now jumped to the fifth spot in the points table, strengthening their chances to reach the playoffs. However, their fate depends on Kolkata Knight Riders' performance in their final game in the league stage.
"There is talk of us wanting KKR to lose the next game and us winning our next game (smiles), but that is way ahead now. We just have to prepare for our next game. Need to play with the same energy today. Looking forward to doing this again in the next game," Kishan added.
