Talented wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan has been in fine form as Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match on Thursday. Ishan showed his class in the shortest format of the game, scoring 69 runs off just 34 balls to lay the perfect foundation for Mumbai Indians while chasing 197 runs.

Speaking to the media after the match, Ishan Kishan also opened up on the controversial few weeks before the start of the IPL 2024 where he lost the BCCI contracts as well. However, Ishan also withdrew from the South Africa series over mental fatigue and also didn’t make himself available for international selection in the following months reportedly. He then decided to prepare for IPL with his MI captain Hardik Pandya despite head coach Rahul Dravid and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah urging him to play Ranji Trophy as well.

Opening up on this incident, Ishan Kishan said: “I was practicing. When I took time off from the game, people were talking a lot. Many things came on social media. But you should also realize that many things are not in the hands of the players.”

“The only thing you can do is utilise the time properly. Also the mindset to think about the previous Ishan Kishan, I would never leave a delivery in the first two overs even if they are bowling well. With time I have learnt that even 20 overs is a big game, you can take your time and you can go ahead. Even though we have lost matches, we want to work together as a team. Changes have come like even if I am not performing and if I know someone else is not performing, I talk to them. I want to know what they are thinking. So these are things which helped me in the break,” Ishan Kishan concluded.