Indian Premier League (IPL) has been arguably a perfect platform for the cricketers across the world to prove their potential and South Africa’s left-arm chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi is no different.
Shamsi had started his IPL career with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led by Virat Kohli in 2016. However, the spinner could play in just four matches in the IPL 2016, where he played his maiden match against the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant. He came in as a replacement for Samuel Badree.
Well, his IPL debut match with the RCB against the Supergiant was a special one for Shamsi, as the Proteas spinner got the opportunity to bowling to the legendary MS Dhoni returned. He finished with a figure 1/36 in 4 overs, dismissing Ajinkya Rahane, to help RCB win that game by 13 runs in Pune.
Recalling that IPL match during the recent candid conversation at the Red Inker Podcast with Jarrod Kimber, Shamsi said bowling well to the Supergiant captain Dhoni whom he termed the world’s best finisher in his very first IPL appearance helped him grow confidence in his abilities and self-belief.
Shamsi told Kimber, “I got picked up in RCB as a replacement player. Team management saw me bowling well in the warm-ups and they picked me for a game. I remember bowling to MS Dhoni towards the backend of the game. I remember this moment clearly because it’s special for me. He’s probably the best finisher the game has ever seen.”
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Taking a dig at his critics, the chinaman bowler said if he could bowl well at the best finisher the game has ever seen, then he could do it against anyone. The Johannesburg-born also revealed that he kept Dhoni’s free-flowing hitting abilities under control throughout his spell.
He added, “I was handling well and kept him under control. All the people who doubted me and made me feel like I’m not good enough, they can go and catch a hike, because I am here, I am doing well against the best finisher of the game. That’s how my self-belief grew. From that moment my mindset changed completely, I don’t need to listen to people who think to bring me down.”
(With Cricket Addictor Inputs)
