Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has expressed reservations about Mumbai Indians (MI) breaking the bank to reacquire Ishan Kishan’s service at the IPL 2022 mega auction. Incidentally, the five-time IPL champions have shelled INR 15.25 crore to sign the young wicket-keeper batter.
Ishan made a bright start to the season, scoring an unbeaten 81 but since then, it has been all flat for him. Watson, who joined Delhi Capitals (DC) as an assistant coach, feels Ishan Kishan he is not worth all that money.
Speaking on The Grade Cricketer, Shane Watson said that he was least surprised by Mumbai’s struggles in the competition. Incidentally, Mumbai have lost all their first five games so far in the competition. Watson said:
“It hasn’t surprised me that MI are at the bottom of the table because they had a shocking auction. Spending so much money on Ishan Kishan… He is a very talented and skillful player, but he’s not worth blowing nearly your whole salary on. And then, going for Jofra Archer, not knowing whether he is going to come back in. He hasn’t played cricket for quite a while. They have got quite a few holes in the team.”
Ishan Kishan has accumulated 178 runs in five outings at a moderate strike rate of just over 120. The southpaw has struggled to get his timing right since the season opener. Ishan managed 13 runs off 17 deliveries before getting out to Marcus Stonis.
“They have got a hole, especially with their fast bowling” – Shane Watson on CSK
Along with Mumbai Indians, another team that has got off to the worst start is Chennai Super Kings (CSK). They lost their first four games before securing a win against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Shane Watson termed the weak pace bowling as their biggest concern.
“The biggest issue with CSK, now that I have seen their five games, is that they have got a hole, especially with their fast bowling. In the previous years, they had Shardul Thakur. Deepak Chahar is injured. They paid a lot for him at the auction, but he is (likely to be) unavailable for a lot of the tournament, which is a big hole. They don’t have a quality overseas quick like Josh Hazlewood. Earlier, they always had a world-class overseas quick bowler. That’s why they are struggling,” he concluded.
The Chennai franchise suffered another setback after Deepak Chahar was ruled out of the entire IPL 2022. The defending champions have decided not to opt for any replacements.
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