The premier all-rounder of India and the Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya, has expressed an extraordinary farewell message for the wicket-keeper batter of the side, Ishan Kishan, who has ended his bond of seven seasons with the Mumbai Indians. The latter has contributed so much for the five-time champions with the bat.
Ishan Kishan is the sixth leading run-getter of the franchise with 2325 runs in 84 innings at an average of just below 30 and a strike rate of over 136 with the help of 15 half-centuries at the best score of 99. His aggressive quality of batting, especially in the opening position, has helped the side a lot in the history of the competition.
The Bihar-born player was retained by the team in the last three-year cycle for INR 15.25 crore. When his name came up in the auction, Mumbai was the first side to raise the paddle for the opening bid of INR 2 crore, before Punjab Kings joined them in the fight.
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Delhi Capitals later replaced the Indians at the price of INR 3.60 crore for Ishan Kishan before leaving the bidding battle at the cost of INR 9.75 crore. Punjab Kings kept on going the wicket-keeper for a long time before they faced Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who finally grabbed the services of the batter for INR 11.25 crore.
Ishan Kishan posts tribute to Mumbai Indians before moving to SRH from IPL 2025
The 26-year-old was in a decent tough in the last season with 320 runs in 14 innings at an average of 22.85 and a strike rate of around 150, shouldering on one half-century at the best score of 69. The year before that in 2023, he smacked 454 runs in 15 innings at an average of 30.26 and a strike rate of over 142 thanks to three half-centuries.
The captain of the MI franchise, Hardik Pandya, has shared a special message on Ishan Kishan by addressing him as the ‘heartbeat’ of the tea and how the latter brought energy and freshness to the dressing room.
“Ishan has been the freshness and the energy of the room. When we could not retain him, we always knew it was going to be very difficult to get him back from the auction simply because of the kind of player he is and the kind of skillsets he brings.” Pandya addressed this in a video posted by the Mumbai Indians.
The special contribution to the franchise found the batter making his debut for the national side across formats where he was part of 61 games, scoring over 1500 runs at a strike rate of around 100 with 14 fifties and one century.
“Ishan Kishan always used to keep the dressing room alive, used to make a lot of people smile, that love and warmth came very naturally to the team. That was Ishan, who used to bring so much love to this team. That is something as a group that we are going to miss. Ishan Kishan, you are always going to be MI’s pocket dynamo, and we’re all going to miss you, and we all love you.” The Indian all-rounder expressed in the video.
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The Jharkhand batter, in return, also wrote a tribute to the ‘One Army’ on social media where he thanked the fans and franchise for being a special part of the journey.
“So many memories with all of you, so many moments of joy, happiness, and growth. MI, Mumbai, and the Paltan will always remain in my heart. I’ve grown as a person and a player with all of you by my side. We say goodbye with memories that will stay with me for life. Thank you to the management, coaches, the players, I’ve played with, and all you fans for always being in my corner.” Ishan Kishan penned on Instagram.