Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels it is good news for Indian cricket that Ishan Kishan has got back among the runs.
Kishan, who hasn’t been in the best of forms in the ongoing IPL, finally returned back to his best as he smashed a fifty off just 25 balls against RR on Tuesday. In fact, the left-handed batter got off the mark on the seventh ball he faced but then changed his gears like a super-fast car after that.
Kishan took the attack against the opposition and he was able to get the boundaries at regular intervals. As there was hardly any scoreboard pressure, Kishan had the license to play with a long handle.
Thus, Kishan helped in chasing down the target of 91 runs in just 8.2 overs. MI won by eight wickets and with 70 balls to spare and Kishan played a key role in helping his team boost their NRR.
This knock will certainly add a lot of confidence to Kishan’s batting as he was struggling for runs in the ongoing season. As Kishan is part of the T20 World Cup squad, it was imperative from the Indian team’s point of view that he got back into form.
Irfan Pathan said while talking to Star Sports, “It is good news for Indian cricket and not only for the Mumbai Indians. He played a little cautiously. When I see Ishan Kishan, he tries to play in a bold fashion from the first ball itself and he has all the shots to be a good batsman.”
Kishan took his time in the initial phase as he played six dot balls before getting off the mark on the seventh ball and thus showed patience in the early stage of his innings.
“But he is sometimes in a hurry which was not the case today. Today, Rohit Sharma had made 14 runs in the first over but despite that he played the next over as a maiden. That means he had come with a game plan today that he will wait initially and once he is set and has gauged the surface, then only he will play the big shots.”
Pathan added that the southpaw was waiting for the ball and he was not rushing into his shots, which was a positive for the batter.
“Earlier we used to often see that he tried to score runs on the leg side but today he was trying to play square of the wicket on the off side. That means he was waiting a little more for the ball.”
