IPL 2020: Ishan Kishan takes pressure off me, says Quinton De Kock

Mumbai Indians openers Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan (left) celebrate their win over Chennai Super Kings last week. PIC: BCCI/IPL

In the absence of Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper and regular opener Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has been opening the batting with the young Ishan Kishan, 22. And according to De Kock, Kishan is helping him by taking off all the pressure.

"Ishan is young and very talented, so for him to show his flair is really nice to see. He plays a lot of shots and sometimes that can help me. When I'm unable to get going, he ends up taking all the pressure off me. That's a pretty good thing in a partnership, especially up front," De Kock said on the eve of MI's clash against Delhi Capitals from Dubai on Friday.

De Kock, 27, who is among the top nine scorers in IPL-13 with 392 runs in 12 games, said that nothing much has changed for him while batting with his new partner. "Ishan and I have a good understanding just like what I shared with Rohit [who is not playing because of a hamstring injury], so things are the same," said De Kock. Kishan has scored 323 runs from 10 games, while Rohit scored 260 in nine.

De Kock also felt that MI's strong middle-order that includes big-hitters Suryakumar Yadav (362 runs in 12 games), Hardik Pandya (241 in 12) and Kieron Pollard (218 in 12) is a big positive for the opening pair. "Having an experienced middle-order helps in any situation. I wouldn't say that it changes our mindset up front. We always try and look to get off to the best possible start, whether they're there or not but obviously knowing that the likes of SKY [Suryakumar], Polly [Pollard], Hardik are behind you, you can go out and bat as per the situation. And if you're lucky enough to be out there batting with them, it's important to give them the strike because they're the bigger strikers of the ball," added De Kock, who has 1,848 runs under his belt from 62 IPL games.

Quinton de Kock

MI have already qualified for the play-offs (with 16 points from 12 matches) but De Kock insisted they won't be taking their last two league games lightly. "I'm not part of that thinking group but if I had to take a guess, we would like to try and finish in the top two. That's our No. 1 goal so the next game is as important as
the last one," he signed off.

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