CricTracker Exclusive: I have some unfinished business in India, Tom Curran looking forward to do well in IPL

Tom Curran, the elder of Curran brothers who are currently playing for England together in T20Is, has been doing exceptionally well for his country, especially in the death overs. Having made his international debut in 2017, the medium pace bowler has played only 34 matches for England across formats due to untimely injuries. But Tom Curran is up and running now and is one of the important bowlers for England in the shortest format of the game.

He was recently the part of England’s squad five-match T20I series against New Zealand and played four matches for his team. Despite bowling at the death most of the times and on smaller grounds, Curran was effective and went on to pick four wickets. The 24-year-old was also part of the World Cup-winning squad earlier his year and is looking forward to sealing his place in the team for the next year’s T20 World Cup.

Tom Curran is now gearing up to play in the Mzansi Super League (MSL) 2019 where he will turn up for the Tshwane Spartans led by Heinrich Klaasen. With a lot of swashbuckling batsmen part of the tournament, it will certainly be a challenge for him to come good and the man himself is looking forward to it.

In an exclusive interview to CricTracker, Tom Curran spoke at length about how his career has shaped up for England in the last couple of years. He also wants to improve his record in India in the IPL and is excited to play alongside AB de Villiers in the MSL.

Here are the excerpts:

You and Sam Curran opened the bowling for England in the first T20I against New Zealand. It must have been a very proud moment?

Yeah! It was. I was told that we were the first brothers to open the bowling for England together which was amazing. I only realized it after the game. But it was great fun. I think it was only the second game we played together for England. Obviously we played a lot together at Surrey. Yeah! Very proud day and hopefully the first of many.

South Africa has produced some exceptional fast bowlers over the years. You will be playing with and against some of those in MSL. Who is your favourite among those?

Playing against Kagiso Rabada who is currently dominating on the world stage is going to be an exciting challenge. And yeah, (South Africa have) produced some legends of the game. Dale Steyn, it will be great to play against him. I’ve played against him a couple of times. He is going to go down as one of the all-time greats. He is someone I’ve watched growing up and playing against him will be great.

You are shaping up as very good bowler for England. Your thoughts on making it to the T20 World Cup next year?

Yeah! Fingers crossed. If I can keep developing, keep getting better, keep putting in performances over the next year leading up to that (World Cup). (I am) always looking to improve. But I feel in a good place obviously coming off from that series win. I am feeling good and hopefully, I can build on that in MSL and carry on developing next year to the World Cup.

Your England teammates are also playing in the MSL. Picking whose wicket will give you immense pleasure as all are explosive batsmen?

I will take all of them to be honest (chuckles). It gives me a little bit of bragging rights. Obviously I’ve played with Jason Roy at Surrey. So to get him (out) would be nice. I have seen him probably a lot more than the others. So if I can get stuck into him on a regular basis. It’s going to be exciting to be playing against those boys.

Who is a better bowler between yourself and your brother Sam?

(Chuckles) I think Sam would say he is and I would say I am. I don’t know, I would let the public decide about it. It’s great that we both are playing together.

Explain the moment when England won the thrilling World Cup final.

Yeah! It was incredible. I mean it was once ever game really and to have that in a World Cup final on home soil. It was an incredible thing to be a part of.

Which team would you like to join in the IPL if you are given the chance again?

I’ve had a little stint at KKR. Things didn’t play as well as I would’ve liked there. I think I’ve been on the back of a long winter. I feel I am in a good place now leading up to that. I feel like I have some unfinished business in India. I want to go there and do well. It’s one of the biggest tournaments in the world and with the best players.

England was under tremendous pressure in the World Cup in the league stages. How did you as a team tackle the situation?

It was one of those things. You face the best teams in the World Cup. The boys just bounced back. Stuck to what got them to number 1 in the world. And carried on playing the same brand of cricket and luckily things worked and we came out on top.

Your thoughts on playing alongside AB de Villiers in MSL?

I can’t wait. He is arguably one of the greatest ever and I’ve played a couple of times against him. But to be in and around and to watch him for the first time from the same team is great. I am really looking forward to it.

You bowl mostly in the death overs and possess very good variations. Whom do you look up to in that aspect?

There’s a number of guys who are doing well in the death at the moment. So whoever you can learn from and whoever you take advice from watching these guys, I do it. Left-arm pacers like (Mitchell) Starc bowls good yorkers at the end and (Jasprit) Bumrah for India also does it. Both are very different bowlers to who I am. So it’s about picking up information from where I can and keep developing wherever I can.