IPL 2022: He was like a rabbit caught in the headlights – Sunil Gavaskar on Ishan Kishan’s struggle

Former legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar feels Ishan Kishan was like a rabbit caught in the headlights after his struggling knock of eight runs off 20 balls against Lucknow Super Giants. Mohsin Khan and Dushmantha Chameera tested Kishan with short-pitched deliveries and the left-hander was not comfortable at all at the crease.

It is well known that the southpaw is an aggressive batter but he hasn’t been able to bring his best so far in the ongoing season except for the first two matches. Kishan has looked in control while playing on the front foot but he looks all at sea when the ball is pitched in the middle of the pitch.

In fact, every opposition is testing Ishan Kishan with short-pitched deliveries as it is his kryptonite and he certainly needs to work on the same.

Furthermore, Kishan didn’t have the rub of the green on his side as he was dismissed in the most unlucky manner. Kishan got an inside edge which lobbed to Jason Holder after bouncing off Quinton de Kock’s left shoe.

“He walked off. He had a miserable time. He just wanted to get out of the misery. Generally, when the ball is edged and it’s caught at first slip, they still wait. Here is a man who when the ball maybe even had hit the turf, he was not interested. He started to walk till the umpire told him ‘hang on, wait, let’s have a referral’. It’s just the mental situation he was in,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“I think he was rattled by the blow he got. Don’t forget, in the past, he had been hit on the helmet. It actually is not a good sign because it means, in places like Australia and South Africa where there is extra bounce, he is going to be like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

“Every fast bowler is going to bang it short, nobody is going to pitch it where he likes, nothing is going to be below the waist. Anything above the waist, he is struggling at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Kishan hasn’t been able to play his natural game, which is aggressive as his strike rate is around 110 in the ongoing season. The southpaw had scored two fifties in the first two matches but since then he has returned with scores of 14, 26, 3, 13, 0, 8. Kishan was bought for a whopping amount of INR 15.25 crores and he could be feeling the pressure of the huge price tag.

MI will play their next match against Rajasthan Royals at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on Saturday.