Mumbai Indians are all set to play their first afternoon game of this year’s Dream11 IPL  as they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The men in Blue and Gold are coming off from a spectacular win against KXIP in Abu Dhabi. On the other hand, SRH won their clash against CSK at Dubai. Both teams have won and lost two games each so far in the tournament.

Ishan Kishan addressed the media at the pre-match press conference. The 22-year-old spoke about his batting, his experience spending time in the MI dressing room, the wicket and conditions in UAE.

Q: What are the inputs you take from big hitters like Pollard and Hardik who have been around to improve your skills?

Kishan: “I think I have been working with them for the last three years. I know how they plan the game. It’s only about the power I think, how they take the game till the last over or how they put the pressure on the bowlers and at the same time how they rotate the strike. So this is something I’m learning from them on how to rotate the strike and how to keep the players confused about what’s your next move. It’s not that you just go there and start hitting.”

Q: You enjoy hitting over mid-wicket. What are the other hitting strokes you’re working on, especially to the ball leaving you?

Kishan: “I think I was not good at playing shots through covers but I have worked a lot in this off-season. If I get the ball over there, definitely I’ll go for it because it’s something that you know every team plans for you. They have meetings before the match. They know what is the weak spot and where they have to bowl to us. But we need to practice that in the off-season.”

Q: You had an amazing start to the season with 99 but against Punjab, it seems you were struggling. Was it the burden of expectations or was it the conditions?

Kishan: “I think it was the conditions. It was not about expectations. The pitch was not that easy. It was double paced and had double bounce, sometimes the ball was coming onto the bat and sometimes it was just nipping. So, it was difficult for me to think, which is the perfect ball that I should go for and the boundary was quite big on my legside when I was batting. You must have seen that the KXIP players also struggled when they were batting, especially when the ball was new and not like 15 overs old. It was just 4-5 overs old when I came into bat and the wickets were down. My task was to take the game till the end, not just start hitting. If I got out, then Hardik would come in and we wanted him to play for seven overs so that he has a clear mind to just go for every ball. That was the plan and I think we executed it well.”

Q: In both the previous games, you were caught at mid-wicket. Looking back, what do you think went wrong and how do you plan to improvise during these crucial overs?

Kishan: “I think that it’s just about that one bad shot. The previous match against King XI Punjab, the ball was actually for a six if I was standing in the stride. I was supposed to hit the ball and it must have gone for a six but I was unlucky. But it’s okay, this is how you learn. This is what IPL is about. You play matches, you keep learning.”

Q: You have been part of the Mumbai Indians unit for a while. What are the key takeaways from spending time with such quality performers?

Kishan: “I think we have that belief of never giving up. I have seen many situations where we were stuck. We were thinking that we are going to lose this game but there was hope in every player that we have to get the game back from this situation and we have done it a lot of times. I see players working out all the time, how they are sweating and how they are putting efforts when we are at practice so it’s something that I learn from them.”

Q: What is your read of the Sharjah wicket and ground, considering your next match is there and how do you assess your opponent?

Kishan: “I think they have got a few good bowlers. I know it’s a small stadium but at the same time, if we don’t get loose balls, we have to respect those balls. If the tempo is on our side, we have to just keep going with it. It’s just about selecting the balls you can hit and you know the stadium is a plus point. It’s not a big stadium, so obviously the teams are going to go for big shots.”

Q: Do you think the wickets here are currently helping the batsmen more? There’s been a lot of talk about the pitches getting slow over the time, so would it help the spinners more back in the game?

Kishan: “When we came here, the pitches were pretty slow, the practice wickets. We knew that after the first half of IPL, the bowlers are going to get help, especially the spinners. We have prepared very well for these situations. Back in India, in the domestic circuit, we don’t get easy wickets to bat on. So it’s just that we have to execute our plan in a good way. We have to select the right ball and target the right bowlers.”