Mumbai Indians give Ishan Kishan a wicked welcome

Ishan Kishan played a T20 match in February after a months-long hiatus during which he missed the Ranji Trophy 2024 and the India-England Test series. The wicketkeeper batter will return to the Mumbai Indians who play their first 2024 IPL match on Sunday, March 24. (Image source: X/@IshanKishan512)

The Indian Premier League has upped its entertainment quotient every year since it launched in 2008. This year, too, teams are populating their social media feeds with on-brand entertaining content that can be quite moreish. The latest in this set is a video by the Mumbai Indians welcoming back wicketkeeper batsman Ishan Kishan.

The video starts with India cricketer Ishan Kishan walking down a corridor to his hotel room. On the door is a post-it note saying "Darna Mana Hai". Kishan dismisses the warning and steps inside. Looking in the mirror, he flips a small bottle of water. Twice, it lands upright on the dresser. The third time, the bottle falls off the table, but the reflection in the mirror is different - the bottle is still upright in the mirror image and Ishan's image smiles back at him eerily. The image switches from reflecting reality to horror-scape and back to reality within a few seconds.

Spooked, Kishan leaves the room. A font reminiscent of Halloween greetings appears on screen: "Welcome back Ishan".

Dekh liya, team hotel mein aate hi bottle flip karneka natija #OneFamily #MumbaiIndians @ishankishan51 pic.twitter.com/h5vEg7YjaH

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 13, 2024

Ishan Kishan played in the DY Patil T20 Cup 2024 in Navi Mumbai in February 2024 after a long hiatus - he missed both the Ranji Trophy and the India - England Test series, inviting critique that he had joined the set of players who valued IPL over playing for state and country because it offers more money.

In previous seasons of the IPL, Kishan has scored 2,324 runs across 91 matches at a strike rate of 134.26. Kishan made his IPL debut with the now defunct Gujarat Lions (the Rajkot-based franchise was operational for just two editions of the IPL - 2016 and 2017 - when the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended for illegal betting). Kishan came to the Mumbai Indians in 2018 for Rs 6.20 crore. In the February 2022 IPL auction in Bengaluru, the Mumbai franchise got Kishan back for more than double the amount - Rs 15.25 crore.

In 2023, Kishan took 10 catches and effected 3 stumpings for the Mumbai Indians across 16 matches.