‘Lost my focus trying to finish games’

Ishan Kishan

Indian Premier League's El Clasico between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings today at the Wankhede Stadium will be of little consequence as far as the qualification race is concerned.

MI are out of contention, while CSK's hopes hang by a thread. Placed ninth on the points table, MS Dhoni's team have to win their remaining three games and hope for other results to go their way to make the playoffs.

However, there will be no dearth of interest from fans of IPL's most popular teams. The No.7 and No.45 jerseys will be in equal measure among fans and the Wankhede will be engulfed with chants of ‘Dhoni, Dhoni' and ‘Rohit, Rohit'.

Full support

Amidst the brouhaha, MI opener Ishan Kishan, the most expensive player of the IPL-15 (Rs 15.25cr), will be keen to continue his recently-regained form. Kishan started off with a half-century in the opening clash against Rajasthan Royals on April 2, but then went off the boil. The MI management backed him to the hilt as he regained form (26) in the return clash with RR, followed by scores of 45 and 51 against GT and KKR respectively.

Kishan admitted losing focus in his attempt to be the finisher. "What worked well for me was, when I started the tournament, I wasn't over-thinking. I was just going and batting like I used to do," Kishan said on the eve of the match at the virtual press conference on Wednesday. "My focus was on giving a good start to the team. But I was trying to finish the game and do the job for others who were supposed to do it. Maybe, I lost my focus in the first six overs.

Chat with coach, captain

"I had a chat with the coach [Mahela Jayawardene] and captain [Rohit Sharma], and they just said, ‘If you can give us a good start, it will be helpful for the team, so you don't have to think about finishing the game. If you are set there in the middle, you will anyway do that.' So right now, my focus is just on giving good starts and making sure that I don't get out easily," he elaborated.

‘Feeling lighter'

The price tag pressure too affected him initially. "Obviously, price tag pressure will be there for a while, but a lot of seniors are around you. Rohit bhai, Virat bhai, Hardik bhai - all of them said the same thing, ‘Don't be worried about the price tag pressure. It's not something you have asked for. Instead of thinking about that, think of cricket and be in your zone. That is important'. I feel very light now, I don't even think about it. "Price tag is secondary. What matters is how you make the team win. Or if you're not in form, how you are helping others bring out their best. The focus has been on that," Kishan concluded.