Interview Tabraiz Shamsi: 'I'm super excited about playing in the IPL'

Tabraiz Shamsi, the South African Chinaman bowler is set to be part of IPL after he was called in as a replacement for Samuel Badree who was injured during WT20 final in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad. Shamsi caught everyone’s eye with his brilliant bowling skills in the 2015 Caribbean Premier League where he picked up wickets and bowled with a decent economy.

The Chinaman had eclipsed Badree with his performance in the CPL as he was ahead of him in the wicket-takers chart and proved to have a definite impact as well, as life goes around in his small world he has been picked to replace the same bowler in the IPL.

He had also seen success at the South Africa’s T20 tournament Ram Slam and ended up as the 2nd highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Sunfoil series. The Titans’ spinner played an important role in his team’s triumph.

Shamsi in an exclusive interview with Sampath Bandarupalli of CricTracker talks about his cricketing journey and playing in his maiden IPL season.

First of all, how excited are you about playing in the Indian Premier League, the biggest T20 league in the world?

I’m super excited about playing in the IPL! A great opportunity to play in front of such passionate cricket fans.

How does it feel at the prospect of sharing the dressing with the likes of ViratKohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Shane Watson? What was your reaction when you got a call from Royal Challengers Bangalore?

Well, they are world class players and have performed at such a high level for such a long time so it’s a great opportunity for me to learn more about the game and that will obviously help me grow as a cricketer too.

At first, I couldn’t believe it! I am in India now and the feeling is yet to sink in. I guess when I go to the stadium for the first game it will slowly start to come to terms with it.

You were the 2nd highest wicket taker in Sunfoil series and had quite a successful outing in the domestic season. How confidence confident are you heading into the IPL?

Yes, I’ve had quite a successful domestic season so I come here in high spirits and excited to take part in the IPL.

Tell us about your cricketing journey. Where did you start playing professional cricket? How supportive were the people around?

I’m a Johannesburg boy through and through.. Started playing for the Lions franchise in Johannesburg after school and then moved to the Dolphins in Durban for 4 seasons, lack of opportunity and game time there made me move to the Titans in Pretoria where I am currently playing and I am really happy to be with the Titans winning trophies regularly. Family and friends play a massive role in each player’s careers and they have been there for me too through all the ups and downs.

Who is your cricketing idol? And among the current set up, who is your favorite batsman and favorite bowler?

Well, I really look up to Imran Tahir who South Africa’s lead spinner at the moment. He has helped me a lot with my bowling, I speak to him often and we always discuss new ideas with each other on how to stay one step ahead of the batsmen. I really like to watch Brad Hogg bowl because there aren’t many Chinaman bowlers in the world and he is a great reference point for to learn from. He has been around for many many years and I will definitely be looking to have a chat with him about Chinaman bowling and will try to learn as much as I can from him in terms of batsmen, it doesn’t get better than ABD and Virat Kohli in the world does it? So I’m really happy to be able to bowl at the best in training to get better and better each day.

The CPL 2015 probably changed your career. You played against more accomplished players and in front of a wider audience. Thereafter you were on the radar of quite a few franchises. How was the experience for you?

Yes, the CPL most definitely changed my career! After doing well at the CPL against great international players people started taking me more seriously and that has been really good to see. It also gives you a lot of self-confidence and belief in your abilities as a player when you can go to a tournament like that and do well. Self-confidence is the key for players to be successful. The experience was truly amazing! The CPL is a high-class tournament with a lot of flair and entertainment for both the fans and the players so I really enjoyed myself and had lots of fun.

As a Chinaman is your focus on taking wickets or want to contain the batsmen who are looking to hit out each delivery?

Well ideally as a bowler you need to have a positive mindset in T20 cricket. So naturally I look to take wickets but in some situations, you need to be able to adapt and look to contain if that’s what the match situation dictates.

All of a sudden we see leg-spinners are getting a lot of attention in T20s, even in the IPL every team has a leggie and is seen as a wicket taking option. What do you think has turned things around in leg-spinner’s favor?

I think nowadays the batsmen have developed so much with the modern game that simply trying to contain runs and being defensive simply does not work so leg spinners have had a big role to play in keeping the scores down because of their ability to take wickets due to their variations.

Help us understand your bowling a bit, we’ve heard people call you a mystery bowler and other names.

Well, I am a left-arm Chinaman bowler who spins the ball both ways with some variations.

Do you think the technologies of slow motion bowling action analysis and video analysis go against the bowlers who have a particular variation as a key element in their bowling?

Yeah, it can definitely give the batsmen an advantage but that’s the beauty of our game…. We have to constantly keep on evolving and trying to get better each day to try and stay one step ahead of the batsmen.

Do you think you will be able to break into the RCB XI? There is a lot of competition there with Yuzuvendra Chahal and Iqbal Abdulla in there, who are seasoned IPL players by now.

Well, competition for places is always good. As a team, it pushes the players to keep giving it their all and as players, it keeps you pushing to get better all the time so for me personally its a good thing that there is good competition within the team. As for me breaking into the starting XI, that is up to the coaches and management to decide. I just have to keep training hard and being ready to play whenever the opportunity comes my way.

What do we expect from Tabraiz Shamsi when he takes field in the IPL?

You can expect a lot of energy and passion on the field…. And of course… some wicked celebrations.

Know more about the mystery spinner – 13 Facts about Tabraiz Shamsi: The new mystery spinner on the block