IPL Auction 2022: MI see Ishan Kishan as their future captain, says Irfan Pathan

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has said Mumbai Indians (MI) are looking at Ishan Kishan as their future captain and that's why they spent so much on the batsman.

After releasing Kishan ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction 2022, MI bought him again at INR 15.25 crore. Kishan is the second-most expensive Indian signing in an IPL auction, while he is the costliest in the ongoing auction.

"He has the potential to be the future captain as well, not right now. They still have Keiron Pollard who can lead, Bumrah who is a leader himself, they have Suryakumar Yadav who could be the prospect for leadership as well. So, they want to invest for the next 5-7 years, that's why they went after Ishan Kishan so clearly and they knew that no matter what we needed to go back to Ishan Kishan," Pathan said on Star Sports' show 'Cricket Live -- IPL Auction Special'.

After making his IPL debut with Gujarat Lions in 2016, Kishan was bought by MI during the 2018 auction.

"I haven't seen in the Auction table, Mumbai Indian talking so much and taking a longer break than this in my history of this Auction list," Pathan added further.

IPL Auction 2022: Price tag won't affect Ishan Kishan, says Sanjay Manjrekar

Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar has backed Kishan to go on with his usual business with the bat unffected by his high price at the IPL Auction 2022.

"I don't think the price tag will affect him too much because the team has shown great faith in him. I am sure it's something they would have told him," Sanjay Manjrekar told Star Sports.

"When we talk bout huge price tags, bringing a lot of pressure, the player feels the pressure when the team is gambling on him. Someone like Nicholas Pooran (Rs 10.75 crore by SunRisers Hyderabad) can feel pressure. We saw how Yuvraj Singh, when he was sold for Rs 14 crore again, his own confidence went down. He was on the slide, Ishan Kishan is at the peak of the powers. He is at the same franchise, I don't think the price tag is going to affect him. I don't think Ishan Kishan will feel the pressure at all," Majrekar added further.

The former India cricketer went on to add that MI have shown a lot of faith in Kishan, who has scored 1,133 runs in 45 matches at a strike rate of 138.50 for the five-time IPL champions.

"Clearly what you can see is they retained four players. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard. If they could retain 5, they would have retained Ishan Kishan. They were desperate to retain him but they couldn't. But they were like 'come what may, we will buy him back from the market'. So now Ishan Kishan is going to be part of a team where he feels really wanted," the cricketer-turned-commentator added further.

On the Day 1 of the mega auction, MI have so far bought only two players: Kishan and South Africa's Dewald Brevis, who is also fondly called 'Baby AB'.