England's Sam Curran feels he is operating at a "different standard" as an all-round cricketer after his stint with three-time champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in UAE.
Curran was one of CSK's only bright spots in an otherwise disappointing campaign as they won just six of their 14 games and finished second last in the points table.
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The young gun adapted brilliantly to different roles he was asked to play throughout the tournament, scoring crucial runs at a strike-rate of 131.91 and taking 13 wickets while going at 8.19 runs per over.
"I really enjoyed the IPL and feel I have taken my game to a different standard in terms of my learning," Curran was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
"I took a lot away from that group and coaching staff at Chennai. I feel my game has improved since I went there and I want to keep trying to improve and become a regular."
England captain Eoin Morgan agreed with the CSK impact on Curran's confidence and experience.
"He was certainly thrown in in all sorts of circumstances and had all sorts of challenges but came out the other side glowing," Morgan said. "Which is great and very difficult to do in a side that really didn't compete at all."
Curran was fantastic with the ball in the first T20I in Cape Town against South Africa on Friday (November 27). The left-arm seamer delivered an impactful four-over spell of 3/28 and gave England an edge in the first half where they restricted the hosts to a manageable 179/6 in flat batting conditions.
Bowling at different stages, as he did for CSK, Curran showed his smarts by gauging the batsmen's move early and using his variations to good effect.
"I took the new ball and tried to set the tone for the team and obviously a wicket in the first over was pleasing," Curran said as the visitors won by five wickets. "I thought it was a really nice performance, using the skills I have been working on for the past year and luckily enough it came out alright. Any time you're asked to take the new ball in a T20 game for England is really great responsibility to have, to set the tone from ball one."
"I think it's a really good team. You saw that [intra-squad] warm-up game, any of those players could have gone out and it would have been a good England team. The competition is really good and so when you do get in, you have to take those opportunities."
"It's a great environment to learn, picking the brains of the senior players. So for me as a younger player, only playing a handful of games so far, it's [a case of] trying to learn and take my opportunities and keep trying to enjoy it," he signed off.
