Tymal Mills aware of expectations from him in the IPL
What’s the story?
T20 specialist Tymal Mills impressed everyone with his bowling abilities against India in the T20 series earlier this year, which prompted many IPL franchises to engage in a bidding war in the IPL auctions. The left-arm fast bowler was bought for a whopping 12 Crores by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the auction which was held earlier in the year.
While speaking to ESPNcricinfo about the daunting tasks ahead, he said, “With the price tag I've been bought for, there will be a level of expectation and I'm aware of that, but I'm just going to go out there and do what I've done and do what has got me this far.”
In case you didn’t know...
Mills participated in the IPL auction for the first time and instantly became the second costliest overseas player of the cash-rich tournament’s history. His price tag of 12 Crores is second only to his fellow countryman, Ben Stokes, who was bought by Rising Pune Supergiants for 14.5 Crores.
Extra Cover: IPL money isn't real until it goes into my bank account, says Tymal Mills
The 24-year-old pacer who attracted great interest from the IPL franchises surprisingly failed to find a potential suitor in the 2017 edition of the Carribean Premier League Draft earlier this month.
Mills has already played in five different T20 leagues and his upcoming spell with RCB will make IPL his sixth domestic T20 league.
The heart of the matter
The English fast bowler endured a horrific 2015, a year in which he was diagnosed with a congenital back condition which meant that he would probably never play cricket again if the injury did not recede. After fighting through the back injury, the speedster gave up on the longer formats of cricket and was overlooked by the selectors for the 50-overs format as well.
However, Mills debuted in the shortest format of the game against Sri Lanka in 2016 and has so far continued to impress in the international arena. Ahead of the 10th edition of IPL, which is set for a grand opening on 5th of April in a match between last year’s finalists, Mills has admitted that it will be tough to bowl in the Indian conditions.
He asserted that bowling in Bengaluru, which boasts a reputation of favouring the batsmen, will be extremely challenging and also said that he cannot expect to perform well in all matches in the tournament. He also spoke of his excitement of being part of the IPL and the RCB franchise.
What’s next?
The young pacer is renowned for his ability to bowl in excess of 145 kmph and also for the extremely well-disguised back of the hand slower ball. Abilities like these tempted the RCB unit to buy Mills following Mitchell Starc’s pull-out just a day before the auction.
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The left-arm quick is now expected justify the price tag and also spearhead the bowling unit of the RCB outfit, which has often come under criticism.
Author’s Take
Tymal Mills has played over 50 T20 matches in his T20 career and boasts an economy of just over 7 runs an over with 67 wickets to his name. However, he knows that in the IPL, with bigger price tag comes a bigger sense of responsibility and one can expect Mills to live up to the price tag because of the variations he possesses.