You will always be MI’s pocket dynamo: Hardik sends message to Kishan

Since 2016, when he made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut, Ishan Kishan has only represented two franchises in the IPL - Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians. While his stint was short-lived with Gujarat, he had more than a fruitful stay with Mumbai, where he won two IPL titles in 2019 and 20, wherein he proved to be one of the driving forces behind the team’s success. 

Kishan made 89 appearances at the IPL for Mumbai, where he scored 2325 runs, averaging nearly 30 while striking at 136.8, with 15 half-centuries for the franchise. However, his run with the franchise came to an end when they could not keep hold of the wicketkeeper-batter before the IPL 2025 mega auction. 

MI’s skipper Hardik Pandya, in the aftermath of the auction, revealed that it was quite impossible for the franchise to get him at the auction, considering their purse and the value at which the left-hander was sold. 

"Ishan has been the ‘freshness’ and the ‘energy’ of the room. When we couldn’t retain him, we always knew that it’s gonna be very difficult to get him back from the auction simply because we knew that, the kind of player and kind of skillset he brings. He always used to be keep the dressing room light, has made a lot of people smile,” Hardik said in the video posted by MI. 

Alongside that, Hardik also hailed the left-hander’s presence in the dressing room, calling him a ‘pocket-sized dynamo’, stating that the five-time IPL winners will miss the southpaw. 

"That love and warmth, it came very natural to him and there will be less cake smashing, less pranks happening on people. That was Ishan and who used to bring so much love to this team, that is something as a group we are going to miss. Ishan Kishan, you always be MI’s pocket-dynamo. We all gonna miss you and we all love you," he added.

Eventually, it was Sunrisers Hyderabad who had the winning bid for the southpaw, at INR 11.25 crore, besting Punjab Kings’ bid at INR 11 crore.

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