IPL: Was only a matter of time before Ishan Kishan got going, says Coulter-Nile
It was only a matter of time before Ishan Kishan found his form and scored points, given his form in pre-season matches, said the Mumbai Indians (Michigan) fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Coulter-Nile starred on Tuesday with figures of 4/14 as MI restricted Rajasthan Royals to 90/9 in Sharjah and Ishan Kishan helped the five-time champions chase down the target in just over eight overs to provide a major boost to their net run-rate as the race for a spot in the play-offs reaches its home stretch.
“It’s good to see Ish come in, especially after missing out a couple of games, and perform really well on such a tough wicket. Just shows the quality that we have got on the bench. Really happy to see him score runs, he has been smashing them all pre-season. So it was only a matter of time before he got some. Hopefully we can make the finals and he can progress that form,” Coulter-Nile told the media after the match.
“Opening the batting is the logical place for him. He likes to play his shots and on a wicket like that, it is going to get harder (to play shots as the match progresses) so all our stroke makers go up the order. I think he was slated to bat in the top order once Quinny went out. Don’t know if he would have batted in the middle order, so nice to see him score some runs and he may have cemented his position,” he said.
Coulter-Nile said that his four-wicket haul was a product of the pressure put on by the whole MI bowling unit.
“We all have to bowl well for someone to be succesfull. We have Boulty (Trent Boult), (Jasprit) Bumrah and Neesh (James Neesham) bowling well today. Everyone who comes in is responsible for keeping that pressure on. So I was just lucky that the pressure was applied and when I came on, that was the point when it all got too much. Today I got the wickets but it could be anyone next game as long as we keep bowling as a unit. We have been pretty good the whole time and hopefully we can keep that trend going,” he said.
