Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan, IPL 2021
Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan. Image Credits: Twitter

The World Cup-bound wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan finally showed some form in batting in the 51st match of Indian Premier League (IPL) against Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, October 5.

Ishan Kishan
(Image Credit: Twitter)

After scoring just 24 runs in his first three innings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 UAE leg, Ishan Kishan was dropped from the Mumbai Indians (MI) playing XI and Saurabh Tiwary was added to the team.

However, with Mumbai Indians entering the do-or-die phase of IPL 2021 they once again showed their faith in Ishan Kishan handing him over the opening slot in place of Quinton de Kock in the match against Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Also, Ishan batted exceptionally well in the match smashing a half-century batting at the strike rate of 200 and helping Mumbai Indians (MI) complete the 91 run chase in 8.2 overs.

I Feel Ups And Downs Are A Big Part Of Any Sportsman – Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan (Image: IPL/Twitter)

During a post-match chat with the broadcasters, the 23-year-old said that he believes ups and downs are a part of every sportsperson journey. He stated:

I feel ups and downs are a big part of any sportsman. I was also not in good shape. Most of the batters were not getting runs like in previous seasons. We had great support staff.”

Further, Ishan Kishan talked about how having a chat with Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard helped to gain back his confidence. He asserted:

 “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 Kishan
(Image Credit: Twitter)

Meanwhile, Kishan was delighted to score runs for the team and helping them clinching a victory. He said:

It’s nice to be back opening and getting runs for the team and helping win by a big margin. Feeling really good was much needed for our team to get momentum,”

Kishan signed off by talking about the qualification scenario of Mumbai Indians (MI). He elaborated:

There is talk of us wanting KKR to lose the next game and us winning our next game 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,” he said.

Notably, if Mumbai Indians (MI) wants to qualify they need to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their last game and will have to hope that Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

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Sonanchal Gautam is the Assistant Content Manager at Cricketaddictor. He is a professional Wrestling and Hip-hop enthusiast.