[WATCH] “Aap kaise ho?” - KKR's Sam Billings tries his hand at Hindi in video shared by franchise
Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings tried his hand at speaking some Hindi in an Instagram post shared by the franchise on Thursday.
The England wicketkeeper-batter was purchased by the franchise for INR 2 crore at the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction in Bengaluru last month. He has arrived in Mumbai for IPL 2022 and is currently in quarantine as per tournament protocols.
In an Instagram post shared on Kolkata's official handle, Billings greeted fans in Hindi and asked:
"Aap kaise ho? (How are you?)"
Giving details about his current status, Billings informed:
"I am in quarantine in my hotel room in Mumbai. Got here yesterday, so still got a couple of days left of quarantine before I can meet up with the rest of the squad."
The England cricketer also gave fans a glimpse of his kit bag and bats. KKR shared the clips on their Instagram handle with the caption:
"Toh kaise hai aap log? @sambillings | #IPL2022."
Billings has so far featured in 22 IPL matches and has scored 334 runs at a strike rate of 133.60 with three half-centuries. The keeper-batter had earlier represented Delhi Capitals (DC) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the T20 league.
The 30-year-old is highly experienced in the T20 format, having played 215 matches in which he has scored 4152 runs at an average of 24.28 and a strike rate of 131.64.
For England, he has played 37 T20Is, scoring 478 runs at a strike rate of 129.89 with a best of 87.
KKR were runners-up in IPL 2021
Kolkata Knight Riders were the runners-up in the previous IPL season.
After winning only two matches in the first half of the edition held in India, they recovered brilliantly to reach the playoffs in the UAE and eventually the final. However, they could not get the better of CSK in the summit clash.
Kolkata will go into the 2022 season with a new skipper in Shreyas Iyer, who was purchased at the auction for INR 12.25 crore.
KKR squad for IPL 2022: Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Sunil Narine, Sam Billings, Umesh Yadav, Alex Hales, Time Southee, Mohammed Nabi, Ajinkya Rahane, Sheldon Jackson, Rinku Singh, Ashok Sharma, Chamika Karunaratne, Abhijeet Tomar, Baba Indrajith, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Anukul Roy, Aman Hakim Khan