Ishan Kishan became the most expensive cricketer at the IPL 2022 mega auction that took place earlier this month. Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians reacquired his service for a whopping INR 15.25 crore.
The young wicket-keeper batsman triggered an intense bidding war with a couple of teams interested in signing the profusely talented cricketer. However, it was Ambani’s Mumbai, who broke the bank for Ishan Kishan.
The 23-year-old cricketer, however, was confident that Mumbai would surely bid for him. In an interview with Times of India, Ishan said:
“I knew MI would go for me. That wasn’t the worrying bit. The worrying part was the rising price because MI needed to save on money to build the rest of the team. It wasn’t just about me. For a minute there, I must admit, my heart skipped a beat.”
“There’s a reason why I wanted to come back to MI. They know me, they understand my game and I know my franchise and how it works. Because I’ve been part of this family, I was sure I didn’t want to go anywhere else.”
“I’ve been here four years and the bonding has been amazing. We’ve won two trophies, stood for each other and with each other, they know my cricket and I know they will take care of me. So, I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” he added.
Ishan Kishan has been associated with MI since 2018. The southpaw has scored 1,452 runs with an average of 28.47 and a strike rate of 136.34. The youngster has nine fifties under his name with his highest score of 99 runs coming against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2020 IPL.