'Even the biggest of players can struggle' - Ishan Kishan opens up on IPL 2022 form

One of the stories of IPL 2022 has been the disappointing performances of the Mumbai Indians. The five-time winners  became the first team to be knocked out of the tournament after losing eight straight games. When a team faces such a slump, fingers start getting pointed, and the first one to take the fall is Ishan Kishan.

Kishan’s abject failures have garnered widespread criticism as he is falling prey to short deliveries regularly. But the wicketkeeper-batter was vocal about his form after his side’s narrow three-run loss to Sunrisers on Wednesday (May 17). He was looking in decent touch in the game as he scored 43 runs off 34 deliveries and was part of a 95-run opening stand with skipper Rohit Sharma. He also defended his slow scoring rate this year.

“Even the biggest of players (can struggle), I have seen the likes of Chris Gayle taking time (to start hitting). In cricket, it can never be sure that you have just one role and I will just go out and hit the ball. If you think about the team, it is more important to understand your role,” Kishan said after the game against Sunrisers.

If the opposition bowlers are bowling well, you need to give respect to them: Ishan Kishan

The opener became the most expensive player of IPL 2022 when Mumbai Indians splurged an astounding INR 15.25 crore for the 23-year-old. The southpaw is Mumbai’s second-highest run-getter this year, scoring 370 runs in 13 matches at an average of 30.83. He has looked sluggish in this IPL in most of the games and gets stuck in the powerplay, which sucks away all the momentum from the Innings.

“If the opposition bowlers are bowling well you need to give respect to them and if you can save wickets it makes it easier for the batters coming later. There cannot be just one situation. Someday, you need to go all out when you are chasing a big total, you need to analyze the strength of the opposition team, whether they have good bowlers to bowl at the death or not, or whether we have to save wickets or not,” he added.