TNPL 2016: Ruby Kanchi Warriors’ fans’ support made us give more than 100 percent: J Kousik

Ruby Kanchi Warriors vice-captain J Kousik addressed the media ahead of their match against Dindigul Dragons at Chennai in the India Cements TN Premier League.

Your team rotated strike very well in the last game. What’s your plan for this game?

There may not be a big difference in the wicket and it could be better. In the last game, we ran very well between the wickets. In this match also we’ll try to do the same. On a slower wicket, it’s always more difficult to hit fours and sixes in the initial stages. So we will try and compensate for it by running well between the wickets.

The spinners in the Dindigul team are very experienced. So do you have a special strategy to cope against them?

We have a lot of players in our team who can play spin well. It’s true that they have a lot of experienced spinners in their side but we will try to attack them as best as we can.

You have good pacers in your side like Jesuraj and J Kaushik, do you have a special strategy with them?

We have experienced bowlers in our side and it’s not easy to hit pace bowlers easily on a slower pitch. If they concede runs it’s only due to bad balls. In the last game, they all bowled very well and we will try to follow it in this game as well.

What are your thoughts on the first game that went to a Super Over?

Our fielding was very good in the last game and it made the difference. We’ll try to build partnerships in this game as we didn’t do that in the first game. We will also try to maintain our level of fielding as well.

How important is the India Cements TN Premier League for you?

TNPL is a very big platform for the youngsters. If we do well here you can go to the next level. A live game, in front of a crowd, is a lot of pressure. In fact, when I had to take that important catch in the Super Over, only when the ball went in the air I felt the pressure even more.

The India Cements TN Premier League is a very big platform, special thanks to the TNCA (Tamil Nadu Cricket Association) for the league. The youngsters are all very happy because of this league.

How did your nickname Puli(tiger) come about?

When I was young I used to enjoy fielding a lot. I used to watch good fielders with their extraordinary dives and stops on TV and I was inspired by them. I used to think even if I did the same people would like me a lot. I used to a dive a lot to all sides of the fields. Because I used to dive well people started calling me Puli.

From there I worked even more on my fielding skills and it's coming good now. Before the TNPL started we worked a lot with TS Mohan sir and all those lessons are paying off now.

Your team had a lot of support from the crowd in the last match. Did it motivate you’ll to play better?

Definitely. When the Ruby Kanchi fans were supporting us we wanted to give more than hundred percent. So it’s a good sign that we have supporters and they are cheering for us. It makes a lot of difference to a side.

Players like Bharath Shankar, Shah Rukh Khan and you have played together. So does this help you as a team?

If you see our batting line-up, we have been playing together from the U-13 stage. We have played in a lot of formats like one-day, T20s and the long format. So we know a lot of intrinsic details about each other — how to handle failures, how to handle a situation and we share a lot of inputs with each other.

Obviously, this helps us a lot in the team. Playing together from a very young age is another added advantage for us.