'I could not sleep the whole night' - MI all-rounder Hrithik Shokeen opens up about his mindset ahead of IPL debut

Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hrithik Shokeen has opened up about his debut moments for the Men in Blue and Gold. Born on 14 August 2000, Shokeen played his first match for the franchise on April 21 (Thursday) against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Even though his side lost the contest, Shokeen played a decent role for his side with both bat and ball.

Hailing from Delhi, Shokeen is a bowling all-rounder. The five-time champions MI roped in the young all-rounder for INR 20 lakhs, which was his base price in the IPL 2022 mega auction. Talking about his debut game, Shokeen came out to bat after MI were reeling for 47/4, after losing their star batter Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 21).

The right-handed batter was decent with the bat scoring 25 runs off as many balls including three boundaries before getting out to veteran Dwayne Bravo. With the ball, Shokeen was economical for his side as he gave away only 23 runs in his four-over quota, but he remained wicketless. Speaking of his debut moment, the youngster revealed that he got his cap from Sachin Tendulkar and stated that he was planning how to bowl to certain batters the night before.

Sachin sir gave me a cap and wished me all the best: Shokeen

“Sachin sir gave me the debut cap and wished me all the best. He told me to think you are the best and I can do it for the team. The moment I got the message that I was playing tomorrow. I always call my father first whenever I get any exciting news. Because I always share such news with him first,” Shokeen said in a conversation with MI.

“I could not sleep the whole night. I was planning for the batsmen. So the whole night I was watching videos of the batsmen. The focus was on doing well. And be normal, the way we practice in nets. Do exactly what the coaching staff had backed me for. There was no pressure. I was thinking that it was just a normal game. The moment I got the ball I looked at the batsman. And on the basis of last night’s videos… I executed my plans keeping in mind his strengths and weaknesses,” he added.

Hrithik Shokeen takes us through the night before his #TATAIPL debut! 🙌#OneFamily #DilKholKe #MumbaiIndians @Hrithik14S MI TV pic.twitter.com/Wg14iKSkQ7

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 26, 2022

Meanwhile, Shokeen is expected to be in action in a group stage clash against Rajasthan Royals to be played at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai on April 30 (Saturday).