Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) speedster Jhye Richardson plans to deal with the high-pressure situations with a “smile” before his delivery stride, as he is set for his debut in the upcoming 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021), starting on Friday (April 9) in Chennai.
The Australian pacer, who is set to complete his quarantine in Mumbai, said formula to smile before bowling a delivery or after being hit for six has really worked for him in the Big Bash League (BBL 2020-2021), where he ended up as the leading wicket-taker with 29 scalps.
And he hopes the same mantra will help him in dealing with the extreme pressure in the world's biggest T20 league.
Richardson told PTI: “The key to my game is to just go out and have fun. It's easier said than done because you're bowling to the best batsmen in the world but for me, if I can just stand at the top of my mark, and smile, that is a big one for me. I actually started doing that (smile) during the Big Bash at the top of my mark, just to put a smile on the top there just to remind myself every bowl that T20 is fun.”
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He further added, “Sometimes you can bowl a good ball and it goes for six. The key to deal with that is finding a way to get over that moment. The good thing for me is that in Big Bash, I was probably the person who was required to all the difficult overs. With that comes experience. I am certainly becoming more confident about myself and backing my ability to bowl in the death.”
The 24-year-old was bought for a whopping Rs 14 crore by Punjab Kings at the IPL 2021 auction and there was certainly the pressure of a huge price tag but the Aussie pacer is now feeling a lot better after having a candid chat with PBKS head coach Anil Kumble.
He said: “I started putting pressure on myself (thinking about the price tag). But, I had a good conversation with Anil yesterday, and he said, you know, 'we didn't pick you up for the price tag we just picked you up for your services and what you do on the cricket field'.
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For me, that was really important to hear, to know that the coach has picked me up for a reason and knows what I'm capable of. So for me, now it's not to worry about the price tag. I know all that coach wants from me is to perform my best and back myself in with whatever skill that may be, whether it's opening the bowling or trying to hit some runs in the lower order.”
On living in the IPL 14 bio-bubble, Richardson, who comes from a place where the COVID-19 situation is not as alarming as India, said: “It's hard not to think about all of those things, especially coming from a place where bubbles have sort of calmed down a little bit, so to come into another bubble is unfortunately what we're going to have to get used to moving forward.”
He signed off, “But it's certainly difficult to get your head around. It's just about distracting yourself and trying to keep yourself busy, and making sure that you're in the present, and not thinking too far forward. If you start to think too far ahead, the bubbles can just drag on for what seems like forever.”
(With PTI Inputs)
