Sharjah [UAE], October 6 (ANI): Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya hailed wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan for playing a whirlwind 50-run knock against Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.

Ishan Kishan played an unbeaten knock of 50 runs off just 25 balls with the help of five 4s and three 6s to help Mumbai Indians defeat Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets with 70 balls to spare on Tuesday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

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"You knocked it out of the park literally, Ishu baby. Proud of you @ishankishan51," tweeted Hardik.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile had said that it was just a matter of time before wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan got among the runs.

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"I think it is good to have anyone among runs. It was really good for Ishan to come in especially after missing a couple of games to perform really well on a wicket like this, this really shows the quality we have on our bench. Really happy to see him score runs, he was smashing it around in the pre-season, it was a matter of time he got runs," said Coulter-Nile during a virtual post-match press conference.

"I think opening the batting is a logical place for Ishan to bat. He likes to play his shots, so I think he was slated to bat in the top-order once Quinton de Kock went out. I do not know whether there was a chance of him batting in the middle-order," he added.

Earlier, Coulter-Nile returned with figures of 4-14 as Rajasthan Royals was restricted to 90/9 in the allotted twenty overs. Jimmy Neesham also took three wickets as no Rajasthan batter was able to stay at the crease for a long haul.

Mumbai Indians will next lock horns against SunRisers Hyderabad at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday. (ANI)

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