Mumbai Indians batter Ishan Kishan returned to form with two back-to-back half-centuries in the final two league matches of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League. The southpaw not just hit two fifties, but he scored at a very quick rate as well. Interestingly, Mumbai Indians dropped Quinton de Kock from the team for the last two matches and allowed Ishan to open the innings.
The decision proved to be a masterstroke as Kishan provided the team with some excellent starts. In the match against the Rajasthan Royals, the left-handed batter hit a 25-ball 50* to help his team chase the target in just 8.2 overs. In the next match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kishan relentlessly destroyed the Hyderabad bowling attack, scoring 84 runs off just 32 deliveries.
Indian captain Virat Kohli had a chat with Ishan Kishan after the IPL 2021 match between the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore
Many fans would have seen on social media and TV screens that after the IPL 2021 match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians earlier this season, RCB captain Virat Kohli had a word with Kishan. The Mumbai Indians star was going through a rough phase then. After winning the Player of the Match award in the match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kishan revealed the details of his chat with Kohli and said:
“I had a good chat with Virat bhai, Jasprit bhai also helped me. Even HP, KP were there to support me. Everyone supported me and they said it’s a learning stage for you, make sure you learn from here and don’t make the same mistakes in the upcoming world cup games. That was the part where I learned from them. I was just taking one point at a time. I would love to open and that’s what Virat bhai said – ‘you are selected as an opener, you just have to be prepared for that.’ In the bigger stage, you need to be prepared for every situation, I feel.”
Who will open the innings for India in ICC T20 World Cup 2021?
India will start their ICC T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against the Pakistan cricket team on October 24. Many fans feel that the duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will open the innings for the team.
Rohit is guaranteed to open, but it will be interesting to see if Virat opens with him. KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan are the other two possible options for that role. Both batters played incredible knocks in their last league matches of IPL 2021. It will be exciting to see who opens with Rohit.
