"I am a human being at the end of the day"- Tabraiz Shamsi on the challenging bio-bubble in West Indies and Ireland
Tabraiz Shamsi cemented himself as the Proteas' leading spinner in the white-ball format following a successful set of away campaigns. Despite the recurring success on an individual level, the left-arm chinaman is not immune to the brutish nature of bio-bubbles.
South Africa have been on the road since May where their first assignment was a two-match test series against West Indies followed by a grueling five-match T20 series as well. After dominating the tests and a closely contested T20 series that ended 3-2 in favour of the visitors, the Proteas had to head to the other side of the ocean to face Ireland.
Shamsi claimed that while he is satisfied with the outputs on the field, he feels the agony of being away from home for two whole months.
“I am one of the guys who probably had the tour that I would have liked. But still there is that human element with things happening back home and a lot of us not having seen our children‚ our spouses and families for almost two months," said Tabraiz Shamsi.
The wily wrist-spinner also spoke on behalf of the entire contingent on tour while talking about the effects of the stringent lockdown set in place.
“Even though I am doing well from a playing point of view‚ I am a human being at the end of the day and that goes for the rest of the guys as well as members of the management. Everyone has been away from home for a very long time‚ so it does have challenges but we have to try to make do with what is in front of us," explained Tabraiz Shamsi.
Tabraiz Shamsi believes he is yet to hit his peak
The Man of the Series against West Indies, Tabraiz Shamsi is in a rich vein of form at the moment. He extended his purple patch during the ongoing series against Ireland as well.
The 31-year-old picked up seven wickets at a miserly economy of just over 4 in the small challenging ground at Granada. He followed it up with five wickets in two ODIs against Ireland and began the T20 series with a four-wicket haul.
Despite all the plaudits and game-winning performances, Shamsi does not believe that he is operating at his best.
"It used to be one game now and another game three months later and that’s how my career started," said Tabraiz Shamsi.
The bowler lamented the lack of consistent game time in the past and claims that he is making full use of the opportunities at hand.