England’s T20 specialist Chris Jordan, who is known for his death over skills, had an unforgettable outing for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in his team’s opening game against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the ongoing 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
In KXIP’s IPL 2020 opener, Jorden leaked 30 runs in the death over against Marcus Stoinis, allowing DC to post a competitive total and eventually pull off a win in a Super Over thriller in Dubai.
A week later, Jorden’s KXIP teammate and West Indies fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell met a similar fate when Rahul Tewatia hammered him for five sixes in an over which played a vital role in the Punjab team’s defeat against the Rajasthan Royals.
Ahead of KXIP’s next IPL 13 clash against Mumbai Indians on 1st October, Jordan has opened up on how to move on from the DC hurt, saying only a sense of humor could help in that case.
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He further pointed out that having a good sense of humor helps one in dealing with the extreme pressure of bowling in the death overs, as well as, helps in getting over an expensive outing.
Jordan told PTI from Dubai: “What happened to Sheldon can happen to anyone. When you are bowling in those periods of the game, you have to have a sense of humor because when you do bowl in the death, you are bowling against the best hitters in the world.”
He further added, “The format can be unforgiving, and guys can also play some unbelievable shots. So, you must have a sense of humor. Of course, you do set high standards for yourself and you want to become better after every game but that is not how life works. If you check over a period, you have more bad days than good days in your entire career. That is why it is important to have that sense of humor when these things happen (you go for runs).”
The Barbados-born cricketer also admitted that anyone can have a bad day, especially in the death overs since you are playing against the world-class beaters and they are only looking to hit out of the park, so in such conditions, the key to staying calm in the shorter format of the game to go long way.
The pacer further explained, “Everyone comes out to see them hit sixes. Bowling in the death is about trying to remain as calm as possible and constantly focus on execution and not necessarily the end result. That is what my mindset is in the death overs. While you are bowling the yorker, you can't think about missing it (though sometimes you do end up missing it). I only think about nailing that yorker and setting the field accordingly.”
Jordan, who last season played for RCB, is also enjoying picking the brains of India and KXIP pacer Mohammad Shami during the ongoing IPL 13.
He signed off by saying, “Shami is a world-class bowler. His seam position is impeccable, one of the best in world cricket. Because he is such a high-quality bowler and someone who is accustomed to bowling in Indian conditions and to Indian players, it has been very interesting to pick his brain. And that is the beauty of franchise cricket. Our conversations have been very healthy.”
(With PTI Inputs)
