Former Indian cricketer and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar has opined the possible reasons behind Mumbai Indians’ star batting duo Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan’s failing form in the ongoing second phase of IPL 2021 being held in the UAE.
While SKY who was bought by the Mumbai franchise for a massive INR 3.2 crore, has failed to make an impact at the elite T20 tournament’s big stage by scoring just 222 runs in 12 matches, young gun Kishan has notched up only 107 runs from 8 matches for the MI ‘paltan’. Having being dropped in the last few games by skipper Rohit Sharma, Kishan is yet to score a match-winning knock for MI, something for which he is known to do well.
Suryakumar and Kishan were earlier named in Team India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 that kicks off in the same venues as IPL 2021, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from October 17.
Speaking exclusively on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected, Team India’s batting legend Gavaskar talked about why both these Mumbai Indians’ batters might be out of form in this year’s Indian Premier League:
“I think it looks to me like, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have just relaxed a little bit after getting the India cap. They might not have, but some of the shots they are playing – it looks like they are trying to play these big shots just because they are India players.
“Sometimes what happens is, you gotta give yourself a little bit of time, and you gotta get your shot selection right. And I think that is where they have missed this time around, where their shot selection has not been exactly correct, and that’s why they’ve got out cheaply,” said Gavaskar.
Mumbai Indians will be squaring off against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium tonight (October 5) in what is possibly the most crunch game for them as they need two points to give themselves any glimmer of hope to see their side qualify to the playoffs in this season.
It will surely be interesting to see if the defending champions decide to play the two powerhouses of talent, SKY, and Kishan, or they rest them even in a campaign deciding fixture against Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals tonight.
