Home
Test cricket is the ultimate Test for a batter but South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton feels otherwise. Rickelton said that in T20 cricket, there is a lot more pressure to score runs off every delivery a batter faces.
"I grew up wanting to be a Test player and thought that in T20, you can just whack a few, but T20 cricket is flipping hard. It's different, but it is harder," Rickelton said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
Rickleton who is set to play his maiden SA20 final for MI Cape Town scored a record-breaking 259 against Pakistan last month.
"Test cricket is very hard, but with T20s, there's a lot more pressure on every delivery. In Test cricket, you can bide your time and work your way through it at a lower intensity. In T20s, you've got to score [off] every ball," he said.
"There's always pressure on you, internally, externally, there's a more detailed analysis on you as a player, and against your opposition. They're always trying to hit your weaknesses. There's a lot more to it than it seems," the southpaw added.
Rickelton thanks coach Amla
Rickelton has thanked Hashim Amla for his support as a coach. He revealed that he is his go-to person whenever he wants thoughts on his batting.
"I spend a lot of time with Hash. He was a phenomenal player and a calm guy in the way he dealt with his success and his failure, so that's awesome. It's just hard to obviously deal with both sides of the spectrum, but he was an incredible player, and he's a very good coach. Batting is very relationship-based, and having spent three years with him, I can trust his eyes and his perspective as a coach," he said.
"It's also nice to have someone that's around frequently. Even when I move up into the Proteas space, he's still the guy I call back. He'll watch [me play], and I'll toss some thoughts to him. It doesn't mean that I disregard anyone else's [views], but the guys that can see little intricacies coming into your game or what you're thinking behind the scenes are the kind that can relate to you a little bit more," the 28-year-old added.
Rickelton's SA20 numbers
Rickelton has scored 303 runs from seven innings at an average of 50.50 including three half-centuries. He scored at a strike rate of 175.14.
Rickelton's Test statistics
So far, Rickelton has played 10 Tests and scored 616 runs at an average of 41.06 including two centuries.
ADVERTISEMENT
