"Choose your captain wisely!" - MI fans slam Rohit Sharma for dropping Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan has been left out of the Mumbai Indians (MI) playing XI for their clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The southpaw has been replaced by Aussie speedster Nathan Coulter-Nile.

The 22-year-old has had a pretty rough patch of form lately, having scored just 73 runs in five games of the IPL 2021 season. Ishan Kishan's inconsistency certainly cost MI dearly in their Chennai leg where they lost three out of the five games that they played.

The addition of Coulter-Nile gives the defending champions an extra bowling option and he can also come in handy with the bat down the order. Whether or not this is a right decision by the MI think-tank remains to be seen.

Twitter reacts to Ishan Kishan missing out for MI

Fans had mixed reactions to Ishan Kishan's exclusion from the playing XI. Some believed he had been made a scapegoat as the entire middle-order of MI failed in Chennai. However, others took a dig at MI skipper Rohit Sharma for not backing the talented youngster

Here is how Twitter reacted to Ishan Kishan missing out for MI:

Ishan Kishan dropped. That's it! That's the start of MI's debacle. It won't be the same franchise anymore. Shraap. #IPL

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) April 29, 2021

Ishan Kishan Dropped just after 3 Failures by Rohit despite being the Top performer last Season Meanwhile Captain of India, Virat Kohli sacrificed his position for the Team seeing Kishan's Potential, Kohli knows how to treat playersChoose Your Captain Wisely

— Pranjal (@pranjal__one8) April 29, 2021

When Ishan Kishan played well in T20Is fans gave the credit to Rohit Sharma for backing himNow Rohit dropped Ishan Kishan after a few bad gamesOne of the Best Indian Youngster getting ruined under Rohit 😞

— 𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍 (@Nitin__10) April 29, 2021

The Captain who actually backed Ishan Kishan 👍Gujarat Lions had openers like Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Aaron Finch and Jason Roy in 2017Still Ishan Kishan opened in most of the matchesNow, even after making his International debut, he finds himself dropped... pic.twitter.com/RX0GuXwU2s

— Manas (@CricManas) April 29, 2021

Ishan Kishan for CSK next season. That's it!!!!

— Shashank Satyam (@ShashankSatyam0) April 29, 2021

RCB Management backed Devdutt after Initial failures this season CSK Management backed Ruturaj Gaikwad this year after Initial FailuresBut MI dropped Ishan Kishan who was MI Best Batsman last Year after initial Failures

— Virarsh (@Cheeku218) April 29, 2021

BTW Ishan Kishan top scored for MI last year, hit most 6s, looked most comfortable against rabada and anrich. But Jayawardene will tell you Ishan Kishan has AtTiTuDe PrObLeMs

— Pradhyoth (@Pradhyoth1) April 29, 2021

We believe in Ishan Kishan. Man will comeback stronger and will make MI regret their decision of dropping him. pic.twitter.com/jmW5CPcdDw

— 󠄪 󠄪 (@ComeToGabbaMate) April 29, 2021

Most supportive and backing captain in IPL dropped Ishan Kishan from playing 11 after few bad innings . 🤡

— yashvi (@BreatheKohli) April 29, 2021

Rohit Sharma has dropped Ishan kishan from Playing XI That's the tweet #IPL2021 #MIvsRR

— ಹರ್ಷ 🐼 (@grharsh) April 29, 2021

Life came to a full cycle for Ishan Kishan. Feel very bad for him. Mumbai Indians are finally playing at a batting strip, after playing 5 matches at a difficult Cheapuk pitch, & he is taken off the team. Harsh call, for someone who was MI's best batsman last IPL.#MIvRR #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/RwbKFEplkC

— SoHoM ᴷᴷᴿ | Wear Mask 😷 (@PawriHoraiHai) April 29, 2021

Krunal pandya is playing and ishan kishan dropped, poor captaincy

— Renton (@Alan_willia) April 29, 2021

Ishan Kishan was the highest run-scorer for the defending champions last season with a staggering 516 runs to his name at an incredible average of 57.33 and a strike-rate of 147.65. By virtue of this, MI won their fifth IPL title and the young left-hander received his maiden India call-up against England.

On his international debut, Ishan Kishan smashed a half-century at the top of the order, strengthening his chances of a place in India's T20 squad for the upcoming World Cup.

However, a poor start to the IPL 2021 season has dented hopes of Ishan wearing the Indian Blue anytime soon.

It will be interesting to see how the 22-year-old responds to this slump in form after witnessing such a high. MI will be hoping that Ishan gets a much-needed wake-up call and comes back to his best once again as soon as possible.