Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile was happy to see the young wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan score runs and win the game for MI against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 51st match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) after missing a couple of games in the UAE.
Nathan, who returned the impressive figures of 4/14, said it was just a matter of time before Kishan got among the runs and feels the youngster should bat at the top-order for Mumbai Indians (MI) after MI’s comprehensive eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Sharjah.
Kishan played an unbeaten knock of 50 runs off just 25 balls laced with four fours and three sixes to help MI chase down the paltry 90 runs inside 8 overs to defeat RR by eight wickets on Tuesday (October 5) to keep their hopes alive for the playoffs in the ongoing IPL 2021.
Coulter-Nile during a virtual post-match press conference: “I think it is good to have anyone among runs. It was really good for Ishan to come in especially after missing a couple of games to perform really well on a wicket like this, this really shows the quality we have on our bench. Really happy to see him score runs, he was smashing it around in the pre-season, it was a matter of time he got runs.”
He further added, “I think opening the batting is a logical place for Ishan to bat. He likes to play his shots, so I think he was slated to bat in the top-order once Quinton de Kock went out. I do not know whether there was a chance of him batting in the middle-order.”
Meanwhile, Coulter-Nile (4/14) alongside Jimmy Neesham (3/12) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/14) helped MI to restrict RR to 90/9 in 20 overs in Sharjah and the pacer hopes the MI bowlers will be able to keep the momentum going forward in the upcoming matches in the ongoing IPL 14.
He further noted, “We all have to bowl well for someone else to be successful. We have Trent Boult and Bumrah bowling well. Jimmy bowled well against RR, everyone who comes in is responsible for keeping the pressure on. So, I was lucky that pressure was applied when I came on and I got the wickets, it could be anyone else in the next game. We have been really good, hopefully, we can keep the trend going.”
Coulter-Nile signed off by saying, “I think it is a part of the IPL. If you look at any other side, all of them have quality players sitting on the bench. Even us, we had Quinton de Kock sitting on the bench, Chris Lynn not even at the ground. The quality on the bench is high, when you are training, you always sort of testing yourself in the conditions.”
Noteworthy, MI is currently ranked 5th in the IPL 14 points table with 12 points and will next lock horns against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Abu Dhabi on Friday, October 8, in their last league game in the ongoing IPL 2021 in the UAE with a hope to qualify for the playoffs.
(With ANI Inputs)
