Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav had put Mumbai Indians in a strong position with aggressive fifties against Rajasthan Royals but once both fell in quick succession, Rohit Sharma’s side lost momentum in the death overs which proved to be costly as the three-time IPL champions lost by three wickets at the Sawai Mansingh stadium on Sunday. (RR v MI HIGHLIGHTS)
Commenting on the loss, Kishan said, “I wouldn’t say it was bad batting. The starting partnership was important that we got. They bowled well. It was not easy to score runs for a new batsman who comes in. It was a little difficult for them. So I’ll say we were 15 runs short but this was a good total.” (RR v MI SCORECARD)
At 130/1 in 14.2 overs, Suryakumar (72) and Kishan (58) had laid a solid foundation for a big score. However, Rajasthan Royals put in a splendid show in the death overs and restricted them to 32/5 in the last five overs. The key bowler in the death overs was 23-year-old West Indies all-rounder Jofra Archer, who bowled with pace and used his variations to pick up 3/23 on his Rajasthan Royals debut.
READ | Krishnappa Gowtham’s knock vs MI once-in-a-lifetime experience: Sanju Samson
{{/usCountry}}READ | Krishnappa Gowtham’s knock vs MI once-in-a-lifetime experience: Sanju Samson
{{/usCountry}}Kishan was all praise for the 23-year-old West Indies player. “He bowled well. But still we could have scored more runs when he was bowling. He gave us little loose balls, full toss and everything. But I think this is the beauty of cricket. Sometimes you’re able to score big runs, sometimes you’re not able (to),” Kishan said.
With four losses in five games, Mumbai Indians face a tough situation in the 2018 Indian Premier League but Kishan was confident that the team would bounce back. “We have been in this condition before also and Mumbai Indians is known for bouncing back. So we won’t lose hope, obviously,” Kishan said.