'He just walked off because he had a miserable time' - Sunil Gavaskar expresses concern over Ishan Kishan's form

Former India Captain and veteran cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has criticized Ishan Kishan for his continued poor run with the bat. In eight matches so far, Kishan accounts for 199 runs at an average of 28.43 runs and a strike rate of 108.15. Mumbai Indians spent INR 15.25 crore in the mega auction to get back the opener in their squad. He started off well in a couple of games but hasn’t been consistent and his form has substantially deteriorated.

It is not just Kishan, but also the Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma who has failed to perform this season. The team is dependent upon two or three players in the middle order as the top-order batters have botched to keep up with the game. As a result, MI have lost all the eight games played thus far.

“He had a miserable time. He just walked off. Because he had a miserable time. So he just wanted to get out of his misery. Generally batters, when they have ripped the ball of the middle-edge of the bat, and caught and first slip, they would wait. But here’s a man, who hit the ball down, maybe even hit the turf he was not interested, he was just walking until the umpire asked him to wait. So it was just the mental situation he was in,” he told Star Sports.

He’ll smack anything below waist, but struggling with anything above that: Sunil Gavaskar

In Mumbai’s recent game of IPL 2022 against the Lucknow Super Giants, Kishan was dismissed in a bizarre manner after the ball edged his bat to hit LSG wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock’s shoes, and then took a bounce to land into Jason Holder’s hands at slip. The openers remained unbeaten throughout the powerplay, with Rohit Sharma leading the chase, but Kishan was dismissed for a mere 8 (20) in the eighth over.

“Maybe he was rattled by the blow he got in the last match on his helmet and it is actually not a good sign because in places like Australia or South Africa there is extra bounce and with his propensity to go there and do nothing about it, he will just be a rabbit caught in the headlights. Every fast bowler is just going to bang it over there. Nobody will pitch it up because that’s where he likes. Anything below the waist he will smack it, but above, he is struggling at the moment,” he further stated.