Ryan Rickelton has eased his nerves with his maiden IPL half-century for Mumbai Indians. Picture: BackpagePix
Image: AFP
Ryan Rickelton has been in the form of his life the past few months.
A Test double ton, an ODI century, and another stealthy contribution for MI Cape Town, which powered the Newlands-based side to a maiden Betway SA20 title.
Taking that all into account, Rickelton should have been filled with confidence when he headed to the Indian Premier League for his first-ever hit out at cricket’s biggest showstopper.
The IPL hits differently though, and Rickelton - usually free-spirited and confident - immediately felt the spotlights turned up just a bit brighter.
It didn’t help either that he had one of the greatest white-ball batters ever as his opening partner in Rohit Sharma, who he mightily wanted to impress.
"Opening the batting for Mumbai Indians with Rohit Sharma, there's always going to be pressure internally and obviously externally as well," Rickelton said.
"The standard is incredibly high, and the conditions are all changing.
"A year ago, [you] turn on the television and teams are getting 260 and you think it's a free-for-all, but you come out and it's actually not that easy.
"Different grounds have unique characteristics. The pressure factor internally is big, but externally is huge. You're playing with some of the world's best players, not just in this team but around the country, so that extra pressure is there and it's hard.
"I'm not going to lie: it's hard. [I'm] just trying to find my way through that, and trying to adjust my game in order to give the team the best chance of being successful."
Fortunately, Ricketlon had worn the famed blue and gold before whilst playing for MI Cape Town in the Betway SA20, which has a similar support staff to Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
This helped Rickelton offset failures in his first two matches before coming good with an undefeated 62 off 41 balls (4x4, 5x6) to steer Mumbai Indians to their first win from three outings in this season’s IPL.
"It's not just coming in blind, so it has been an easier transition. But the IPL is a different beast on its own, so to mentally work my head around that is a bit of a different one for me… Luckily, I've got a few familiar faces around,” he said.
"I was a bit nervous. I just really wanted to get a score and just ease the nerves down. It was a relatively low total [target], so I knew I could afford a bit of time and just give myself those extra couple of balls… I felt like if I could face 18-20 balls, I'd have some kind of impact on the game and luckily I managed just to get through. It wasn't as fluent as I'd have liked it to be, but I'll take it.
"It was a massive relief, in all honesty. Our first two games were tricky, on some tough wickets. To get out here in Mumbai and have Spencer Johnson turn me inside out was quite a tough battle to get through, but once I managed to get through that it was really pleasing to get a score - but relief, more than anything, and to get two points on the board is great for the team."
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