Mumbai Indians (MI) most expensive buy in the IPL 2022 auction, Ishan Kishan has struggled to justify his INR 15.25 crores tag in the ongoing tournament. This was the first time Mumbai Indians splashed the cash in excess of Rs 10 crore on a player for the first time in their history.
He began the IPL 2022 well hitting an 81* against Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening match of the season. He followed it up with a fifty against Rajasthan Royals in the next game but as MI's form slumped, Ishan's form also took a beating.
He had a string of low scores- 14, 26, 3, 13, 0, 8 as MI lost their first 8 matches and gradually were eliminated from the race of IPL 2022 playoffs. He also hit a fifty in their last game against Kolkata Knight Riders but it ended up in vain as MI lost once again.
IPL 2022: ‘We want to win all the games and make the tournament tough’, says MI opener Ishan Kishan
"The pressure of the price tag will be on you for a maximum of `1-2 days after the auction. But at this level, you have to understand that I can’t keep such things in mind and I only have to focus on how to help my team win. The pressure of the price tag certainly will remain for a few days but when you have such good seniors around you when you keep talking to them, it helps," Ishan said while talking to the media on the eve of MI's match against Chennai Super Kings.
"When I spoke to Rohit bhai, or even to Virat Kohli bhai during the game against RCB and Hardik bhai, everyone told me the same thing ‘you don’t have to think about the price tag’ because it’s not something I have asked for. The team had belief in me, so they did spend the money," he added.
He further added: "Instead of thinking about the pressure of the price tag, it’s important to think about my game and being in the zone. So talking to the senior players really helped. They have played the game for so long and handled different situations. For them also, at some point, the auction price would have gone up. So I learned how they handled the situation then."
He does feel a tad lighter after his conversations with Rohit and Virat. Ishan Kishan has managed 321 runs in 11 matches so far for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing season.
"Now I feel light and price-tag is secondary now. It's immaterial if you are sold for a base price of Rs 1 crore or for a premium bid of Rs 15.25 core. What is important is to help your team win and also help others in achieving that goal,” he said.
He also added that he doesn’t check social media for criticisms and said: "Sir, I don’t check what people are saying. From the outside, you can say anything you want because you are not in the players’ situations. It’s easy to pick up your phone and write something. I don’t get bothered by what people comment on social media. If they get joy in writing such stuff, then let it be. I don’t get bothered.”
(PTI inputs)
