‘He once hit me for 2-4 sixes. Knew he was going to be an amazing player’: Harbhajan says he is a fan of India youngster | Cricket

Former Mumbai Indians cricketer and an Indian cricket legend Harbhajan Singh reserved the ultimate praise for MI’s 23-year-old star recalling the time when the youngster had hit him for a couple of sixes in a match. Harbhajan’s comment came after his stellar performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

Mumbai Indians opener Ishan Kishan was brought back for a whopping amount of INR 15.25 crore at the mega auction last month, the second highest amount shelled out for an Indian player at an IPL auction. And the youngster proved his worth with his impressive knock of 81 runs that helped Mumbai set a target of 178 against Delhi.

“Ishan has come out as a mature player. When Rohit Sharma was out, he took the batting upon himself and decided that ‘I have to play till the end’. With this knock, he’s proven how capable he is as a batter,” Harbhajan said on Star Sports show Cricket Live.

ALSO READ: LSG Predicted XI vs GT, IPL 2022: KL Rahul set to test bench strength as key overseas players likely to miss opener

He continued, “I am a fan of this guy. Once I bowled to this guy in a match and he hit two or four sixes against me. Watching him bat like that I was clear that he’s going to be an amazing player and now I sit back and enjoy his batting whenever he walks into the middle.”

The youngster formed a crucial 61-runms opening stand alongside captain Rohit Sharma before playing a key role in Mumbai’s revival after Kuldeep Yadav’s triple blow. He laced 11 boundaries and 2 sixes in his 48-ball knock as Mumbai ended their innings with 177 for five.

“Mumbai Indians team management will be the happiest after Ishan’s innings because they made a huge bid on him in the auction. The owners came up with a plan that ‘we’re going after Ishan no matter what.’ And what happened after that? Ishan did what they wanted, he not just started things off brilliantly but also finished for them. It was a mature knock from Ishan,” former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who was also part of the discussion, added.

Despite Ishan’s efforts, Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel helped Delhi chase down the total with 10 balls to spare as Mumbai, for the 10th straight IPL season, lost their campaign opener.