T20 World Cup 2021 | Virat Kohli asked me to be prepared as an opener, reveals Ishan Kishan

10/09/2021

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Mumbai Indians wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan has revealed that Virat Kohli asked him to be prepared as opening batter for the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman. Ishan Kishan has opened the batting for Mumbai Indians in their last two league matches and has returned to form with two fifties.

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday in Abu Dhabi as they had an improbable task at hand i.e win the match by 171-run to get past the net run-rate of Kolkata Knight Riders. Openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan provided an explosive start to the team as they stitched an opening partnership of 80 runs in just 5.3 overs. Rohit got out to a catch taken by Mohammad Nabi off the bowling of Rashid Khan. Kishan scored 84 runs in just 32 balls with 11 fours and four sixes before he was caught behind by Wriddhiman Saha off the bowling of pace sensation Umran Malik.

“A very good thing for me and for the team getting some runs, and getting into good touch before the World Cup. Was in good state of mind, was very positive. We had to get somewhere around 250-260, it was the intent and positive intent. The one I smacked off Malik through the covers - that's the one (his favourite shot). In this tournament, you have to be prepared for every circumstances. It's important to be in the right mindset and you need to go with your best form. I had a good chat with Virat bhai, Jasprit bhai also helped me. Even HP, KP were there to support me," said Ishan Kishan.

Everyone supported me and they said it's a learning stage for you, make sure you learn from here and don't make the same mistakes in the upcoming world cup games. That was the part where I learned from them. I was just taking one point at a time. I would love to open and that's what Virat bhai said - 'you are selected as an opener, you just have to be prepared for that.' In the bigger stage, you need to be prepared for every situation I feel,” he added.

Suryakumar Yadav got past his best score of 79 not out as he scored 82 runs off just 40 balls with 13 four and three sixes. Mumbai ended up with the score of 235/9 on the board, needing to bowl out SRH on a meagre score of 65 or less to qualify for the playoffs. In reply, SRH openers Jason Roy and Abhishek Sharma knocked off 64 runs in just 5.2 overs ending hopes of Mumbai’s qualification. SRH lost their first wicket in the form of Jason Roy when the scorecard read 64/1. Roy got out to Trent Boult as he was caught by Krunal Pandya. SRH lost three wickets in the form of Abhishek Sharma, Mohammad Nabi and Abdul Samad in the space of just 31 runs.

At 100/4, Priyam Garg joined stand-in skipper Manish Pandey and stitched a partnership of 56 runs for the fifth wicket, although they struggled to keep up with the required run-rate. Priyam Garg got out to Jasprit Bumrah. The next batters couldn’t cross the double-digits as they were restricted by the Mumbai bowlers to 193/8. Manish Pandey was unbeaten on 69 runs in just 41 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

With this win, Mumbai has ended in fifth position on the points table. Mumbai has been finishing in either fifth position or as winners since 2015.