IPL 2021 | Watching my old batting videos gave me confidence, reveals Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan, who was dropped from the Mumbai Indians' XI following the side's defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier in the season, was recalled at the expense of the experienced Quinton De Kock on Tuesday.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked Rajasthan Royals to bat first on a slow and sluggish Sharjah pitch. RR were restricted to 90/9 in 20 overs, thanks to the brilliance of Jimmy Neesham (2/12) and Nathan Coulter Nile (4/14).

In reply, Rohit got off MI to a flyer with 14 runs off the first over, before Kishan played out a maiden against Chetan Sakariya. The left-hander soon unleashed thereafter, registering a 25-ball unbeaten 50 which included five fours and three sixes.

Kishan revealed that he was advised to watch the videos of his batting from the previous season by Kieron Pollard, which helped him regain confidence.

"I had a chat with KP (Pollard) who said you just need to keep things simple, bat the way you used to do, just watch the videos of what you did in the last season. I watched a few videos of my batting and that gave me a bit of confidence," said Kishan on Tuesday. 

Kishan, who batted down the order in previous matches in UAE and during the first leg back in India, felt good about being back to the opening slot.

"It's nice to be back opening and getting runs for the team and helping win by a big margin. Feeling really good, was much needed for our team to get momentum," said the 23-year-old.

"It was good to field first, got a good idea of the surface. Our plan was to play as straight as possible. Just play in the V was the plan and the batsmen executed really well."

The win has kept MI's hopes to get into the playoffs alive, but their chances hinge on the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals result. Kishan laid emphasis on maintaing consistency as a team.

"There is talk of us wanting KKR to lose the next game and us winning our next game (smiles), but that is way ahead now. We just have to prepare for our next game. Need to play with the same energy today. Looking forward to doing this again in the next game," he said.

MI will take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last league game in Abu Dhabi on Friday, on October 8.