IPL 2022: Definitely Not What We Are Looking For From Him Up At The Top - Mahela Jayawardene On Ishan Kishan

Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene asserted that their opener, Ishan Kishan, has failed to execute his natural playstyle which has let down the team in crucial phases of the game.

Kishan played a sorry 8 (19) against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) during their run chase of 169 on Sunday. The knock hurt MI’s run chase, leaving Rohit Sharma to do the run-scoring at the top of the order.

“We have had conversations with him, even today when Rohit was batting well, he struggled. That is a conversation I have to have with him after this game. But, yeah, definitely not what we are looking for from him up at the top,” Jayawardene said at the virtual press conference after the game.

Kishan started off well in the IPL 2022 season, scoring 81 in MI’s first game of the season. Unfortunately, that was the last glimpse of the talented youngster, who has gone into a shell since totalling 118 runs in the next 7 games.

“We have given him freedom to play his natural game” – Mahela Jayawardene

Despite having the backing of the team management, Kishan has looked tentative instead of taking the aggressive route. This has stunted MI’s scoring in the powerplay, leading to poor starts more often than not.

“Obviously on the field, you have seen that he struggled a bit in the last four games after having a good start in the first few. I have not had a conversation with him yet after this game to figure out what went through his mind on how we wanted to approach it.

“We have given him the freedom to play his natural game which he probably has not executed well in the last few games,” Jayawardene added.

MI has lost all of its eight matches played so far, extending the record for the worst start ever to a single season in the history of the IPL.

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