'He has been doing fairly decently' - Kieron Pollard defends Ishan Kishan after his duck in MI's defeat against GT
MI, led by Hardik Pandya, suffered a narrow six-run defeat against GT in their opening game of IPL 2024.
Kieron Pollard, Mumbai Indians' (MI) batting coach, defended Ishan Kishan after his four-ball duck against Gujarat Titans in their opening fixture in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on March 24 in Ahmedabad. Notably, MI, led by Hardik Pandya suffered a narrow six-run defeat against the hosts.
Pollard is confident in Kishan's abilities and stated that he will make an impact in the coming days. He added that the young wicketkeeper-batter is in good space and is definitely going to showcase his batting prowess in the ongoing tournament.
"It’s not very easy as people will think. Yes, he (Ishan) didn’t score tonight and we can look at all sort of different things. But it’s (IPL) a long tournament. He’s an experienced guy within our setup. And we expect big things from Ishan,” Pollard told reporters during a post-match interaction.
Also read: IPL 2024: Jay Shah, Ishan Kishan spotted chatting after GT vs MI clash, video goes viral
“He’s in a good space. He has been practicing well. And he has been doing fairly decently. So hopefully within the next couple of games, you can see a great performance from him. And then all of you guys will continue to laud his praise when he does that,” he added.
It is worth noting that Mumbai's clash against GT was Ishan Kishan's first high-profile cricket tournament after a long hiatus. The wicketkeeper-batter was absent from competitive cricket until his comeback in the DY Patil T20 Cup in February. Prior to this, he took part in India's home T20I series against Australia shortly after the 2023 ODI World Cup.
During this break, the 25-year-old trained at a private facility and opted out of domestic cricket, which subsequently sparked speculation regarding his absence from the national side. Notably, reports emerged that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had sent letters to players, urging them to participate in domestic cricket when not confronted with national duties. Ultimately, Kishan was omitted from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players released later in February.
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