The experience of playing in Indian conditions during his IPL stint helped him to stay calm under pressure during the opening T20I, said Australia’s Tim David on Thursday.
The 26-year-old made his IPL debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore in Sharjah against Chennai Super Kings last year. He was then bought by Mumbai Indians and played eight matches for the franchise this year.
“I think having had the experience of playing in India before and playing a fair bit of T20 cricket recently, I felt calm the other night because I knew that we’re in a good position to be able to chase those runs,” said David during a virtual press conference.
“And the way the pitch was playing so I think to get over the line, you know, that still has to happen. It doesn’t just happen straight away. And that was some brilliant performances from our batsman, the chase that score down.” David scored a 14-ball 18 on debut and added 62 with Matthew Wade (45) to guide Australia to a four-wicket win in the first T20 on Tuesday.
“Having some good experience playing in India, I think finishing off games and understanding how it can go and how the pitches can play or when it kind of lights up in front of you, so you know, there can be an advantage batting second in Indian conditions.
“That was a good experience - that IPL - to draw on to the other night out there in the middle,” added David. He added that the experience of sharing the dressing room with Wade in the Hobart Hurricanes helped him during the chase in Mohali.
“I played a fair bit with Maddie (Wade) but I haven’t batted with him that much. So it was nice to have a familiar face out there the other night and I think he did most of the heavy lifting,” he said.
“So to be stood the other end and watch him finish the game off was great. And that’s I guess it’s good stuff.” Talking about his role in the Australian team, David said: “I think my role on the team here is to be batting in the middle order. So that means that I’m not going to be facing a lot of balls in matches.
“And I’m probably going to try and put the foot down with my batting first or if we’re chasing, trying to finish off the game. So I’ve got to tick off my boxes of trying to play powerful shots, trying to clear the boundary and I think that’s a big part of my training.
“So I try and get volume in the nets because, let’s say, in a three-match series here I like face 20 balls ...so I’ve got a lot of my work done in the nets. And be prepared to kind of be on for every ball.” “I think it’s pretty straightforward. It’s very similar to what I’ve been playing T20 cricket over the last year and 18 months so I guess I’m trying to bring my experiences that I’ve had so far and just take the game on and help the team win games.”
Asked if he had ever thought that he would be playing the T20 World Cup for Australia, David said: “To be honest, I didn’t give it very much thought. It’s just it’s kind of evolved naturally to be here at this stage. Yeah, I haven’t thought about that too much.
“I just look to win a game which is in front of me and don’t put any expectations on that.
“I just try and keep the game very simple. I don’t look too far ahead of myself. I’m trying to stay pretty grounded and train harder than that and just improve as much as I can.”
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