'How's this for his confidence just before T20 WC' - Twitter questions Mumbai Indians for dropping Ishan Kishan

Mumbai Indians have locked horns with Punjab Kings in the Match 42 of the Indian Premier League. However, ahead of the start of the game what has surprised the cricket on-lookers is the omission of Ishan Kishan from the side for this match. The keeper-batter had been struggling to make an impact but he has been an important cog in Mumbai’s wheel and thus he missing out from the squad hasn’t gone too good with the fans and the cricketing fraternity.

On winning the toss, Rohit Sharma opted to bowl first and reckoned that the team has made a few mistakes and hasn’t played to their potential. The team took some tough calls ahead of this game as middle-order batter Ishan Kishan and speedster Adam Milne were replaced by Saurabh Tiwary and Nathan Coulter-Nile. However, MI dropping their key player Ishan has stunned some of the on-lookers as they have been disappointed by this move.

Ishan Kishan misses out for MI in the clash against PBKS

The current IPL campaign hasn’t been quite pleasant for the keeper-batter. He has struggled to make an impact with the willow. In this edition of the Indian Premier League, Kishan has scored just 107 runs in eight matches. The five-time champions have had a disappointing outing in the UAE leg of the IPL.

The team has lost all their three matches so far and is languishing at the seventh position of the points table. Their last match against RCB was furthermore dismaying as MI’s batting lineup witnessed a collapse, handing over a thumping victory to RCB by 54 runs. No batter was able to hold the fort of the side in the middle overs and thus the team couldn’t get past the total.

With the race to the play-offs already been heated, MI is desperately in search of a victory. Saurabh Tiwary, who looked quite good in the first match of the UAE leg, replaced Ishan. Talking about the wicketkeeper batter, he has established himself as one of the important chains of Mumbai’s link. He had a splendid IPL 2020 and owing to his fearless approach and versatility he also received India call up.

The 23-year-old displayed his flair and registered half-centuries on both his ODI and T20I debuts against England and Sri Lanka respectively. Now that he is facing a lean patch, it has raised concerns as Ishan is also a part of India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. There have been mixed reactions to his exclusion from the playing XI.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Ishan Kishan’s omission: