Mumbai: Mumbai Indians are in shock after consecutive losses in the IPL. After a losing start, they are proud to be back on the winning track as they continuously lose to Punjab and Gujarat. If they fought and lost against Punjab, then they humiliated defeat against Gujarat. Captain Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav shone against Punjab but both disappointed against Gujarat.
Even as pundits and fans criticize Rohit and Suriya’s poor form in Mumbai’s successive defeats, there is another star who actually escapes criticism. Mumbai bought Ishan Kishan for 15.25 crores in the Mega Star Auction IPL 2021. The reality is that Kishan, who lost last season, has not been able to reach his form this season as well. As the wicket keeper is a batsman, he cannot play.
Kishan has scored only one half-century in the seven matches he has played this season. Kishan’s highest score of the season was 58 off 25 balls against Kolkata. Kishan’s second highest score was 38 off 31 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kishan’s other performances include 10 off 13 balls against RCB in the first match of the season, 32 off 21 balls against Chennai Super Kings, 31 off 26 balls against Delhi Capitals, 1 off 4 balls against Punjab Kings and 13 off 21 balls against Gujarat while chasing the target of over 200 yesterday. Captain Rohit Sharma, struggling to find his rhythm, plays like this when Kishan has to cut and relieve pressure while playing defensively in the powerplay.
Rohit disappointed again, embarrassing record; Fans stop
Let’s see Rohit’s performance with Kishan. Yesterday Rohit’s performance was 2 in 8 balls against Gujarat, 44 in 27 balls against Punjab, 28 in 18 balls against Hyderabad, 20 in 13 balls against Kolkata, 65 in 45 balls against Delhi, 21 in 13 balls in against Chennai and 1 in 10 balls against RCB. In the previous outings, Rohit lost more balls only yesterday and against RCB.
But Mumbai’s batting is under pressure as Ishan Kishan played defensively at first and played more dot balls and then got out without scoring much. Kishan, who could not even understand the line and length of Mohammed Shami’s ball in the power over against Gujarat yesterday, once again underlined that he is a batsman who can only break on flat tracks.
Even before the IPL, Kishan’s slowness was the talk of the town when he opened for India. In the last two T20Is against New Zealand, Kishan’s scores were 19 off 32 balls and one off three balls.
Last Updated April 26, 2023, 11:31 AM IST
