Sanjay Manjrekar has said that a massive price tag will not affect young India wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan.
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Former cricketer turned veteran commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has said that a massive price tag will not affect young India wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan as his team (Mumbai Indians) have shown ‘great faith’ in him. His comments came as Kishan has scripted history on Saturday as he became the second-most expensive Indian player after the former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh in the cash-rich league.
Mumbai Indians bought him for a staggering amount of 15.25 crores. And, he finished as the most expensive player bought on the first day of the mega auction as well. While he was expected to be one of the hot properties in the auction, Manjrekar feels that Kishan, unlike some of the other top-earners, is currently at the height of his powers and won’t get affected.
Speaking to Star Sports, he said, “I don’t think the price tag will affect him too much because the team has shown great faith in him. I am sure it’s something they would have told him. When we talk bout huge price tags, bringing a lot of pressure, the player feels the pressure when the team is gambling on him. Someone like Nicholas Pooran (10.75 crores) can feel pressure.”
He continued: “We saw how Yuvraj Singh, when he was sold for 14 crores, his own confidence went down. He was on the slide, Ishan Kishan is at the peak of the powers. He is at the same franchise, I don’t think the price tag is going to affect him. I don’t think Ishan Kishan will feel the pressure at all.”
The Jharkhand-born cricketer witnessed intense bidding as Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans too were involved alongside Mumbai.
However, Kishan had a breakout season in 2020 when he enthralled everyone with his skills, temperament, intent and strokeplay as well. He amassed 516 runs in 14 innings at an average of 57.33 and a strike rate of 145.76 with 4 50+ scores. And, Manjrekar claimed that Mumbai Indians have shown huge faith in Ishan Kishan by going all-out in their pursuit to buy him again.
“Clearly what you can see is they retained four players. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard. If they could retain 5, they would have retained Ishan Kishan. They were desperate to retain him but they couldn’t. But they were like, ‘Come what may, we will buy him back from the market,'” he concluded.
However, Ishan Kishan had an average season in last year’s IPL as well.
