'It’s been a really good period of growth for me' - Tim David reviews his IPL season with Mumbai Indians

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians will want to forget this season as soon as possible as they finished this year’s IPL in the worst possible manner. MI ended the season sitting in the 10th spot by winning only four matches out of 14. Meanwhile, Tim David got the opportunity to play the IPL this year after Mumbai bought him for INR 8.25 crore.

David is known for his big six hitting abilities and eyebrows were raised when Mumbai shelled out a big amount money for him as they were looking to use him as a replacement for Hardik Pandya. Batting down the order, he bagged 186 runs in eight innings at an average of 37.2 but with a staggering strike rate of 216.28.

Despite his all-around abilities, MI skipper Rohit Sharma did not utilise his bowling skills at all throughout the tournament. However, his cameos in the second half of the tournament were the talk of the town. Especially, his blistering knock of 34 runs off 11 balls against Delhi Capitals in the last group stage match, which helped RCB to qualify for the playoffs knocking DC out.

We were not getting the results that we wanted straight away: Tim David

Speaking about the overall season, David said that there were many challenging times which were so frustrating. “We were not getting the results that we wanted straight away.” Personally, it was a challenging season for him as it was his first time in India.

“Initially when you come into an environment, you don’t know many people. Though further into the tournament, things got more comfortable with the group,” he said.

He also praised young Indian talents like Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and Ramandeep Singh. “These guys are all players for the future and can always have a bit of fun with them.”

He expressed that after playing in the first few matches, he had to sit out for team combination reasons. Hence, he got the opportunity to work on his fitness more with the help of Paul Chapman in the gym.

Speaking about his improvements in batting abilities, David said: “I am looking to be more stable at the crease along with more controlled swings. It has helped me to become quite a bit stronger. Overall, it’s been a really good period of growth for me and also some experience on the field.”