“I am very excited,” says spinner about opportunity to play in IPL, in the same venues as the subsequent T20 World Cup
Shamsi went straight from South Africa’s tour of the Caribbean and Ireland to the Hundred, from where he joined the national squad for a white-ball series in Sri Lanka. Then, he’ll head to the IPL and will likely remain in the UAE for the T20 World Cup, where he hopes to be able to use his franchise experience to help his country.
“I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I’m not excited about (the IPL). I am very excited. Especially because I’ve never played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” Shamsi said. “The IPL is a different thing. I have played in the past but I was a lot younger and I didn’t get a lot of game time regularly. When you get regular game time, you can showcase what you can do. You can improve. And from a Proteas’ perspective, I’m really happy I got picked up in the IPL because I’ve never been there and played there. It will be nice if I can play on those pitches and get some inside information and gain some experience; just to be able to pick up some knowledge and information that might help us in the World Cup.”
“Just yesterday I was speaking to one of my close friends about the IPL and the year that I’ve had for South Africa and I realised It’s very important to wait for your time,” he said. “A lot of people who have followed me from the beginning of my career know it wasn’t just a smooth transition. I’ve had to wait a long, long time to get my opportunity to, firstly, get picked for the Proteas. And then again, for four or five years, to get regular game time. We don’t have to look at other people’s journeys.”
Although the mood around South African cricket, in the throes of the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings, is that many players of the past, especially players of colour, found the team environment a nightmare, Shamsi painted a rosier picture of its current climate. “You can go all over the world and play for different teams, but this is the pinnacle. This is where your boys are. You get to play with guys you’ve grown up playing with and against. These are your people. That’s what makes it special for me,” he said.
Instead, Shamsi was at The Hundred, where his biggest takeaway was that sometimes it’s not the worst thing to try and move the game along. “It’s like a much faster version of T20. I picked up a few things, like how you can save a lot more time in the field by rushing through and showing some urgency,” he said. “It was nice because I’m someone who enjoys bowling and who doesn’t enjoy long breaks between spells.”
“My confidence levels are up,” Shamsi said. “And I believe we have one of the best bowling attacks in the world. All we need is a bit of game time. I’m not saying that because we’ve won a couple of series back-to-back. The talent in the squad is there. We might be inexperienced at the international level but it doesn’t mean that we don’t have the skill. We showcased that against a very strong West Indies team, and against Ireland. Nobody here wants to lose and I know the people back home don’t want to see us losing. So we’re pushing it. We just need a bit more time together. The more we play together the better we’re going to get.”
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent
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