The right-arm fast bowler Tom Curran is hopeful to come up good against Windies star batsman Chris Gayle in the One-day International series, as he is further aiming to make his debut in the format to set up the mark in the limited-overs set-up.
“It’s great to see the West Indies with all their big guns back and it’s a challenge I can’t wait to take on,” Curran was quoted as saying by Daily Mail Online.
The Cape Town-born Curran was competing with wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow in the musical challenge while playing the steel drum during the event of Royal London.
However, the explosive Gayle, who is making his return to the limited-overs’ series is equally prepared to face the rookie pace bowler in the impending Royal London series. In the head-to-head contest, Surrey-based played Curran is looking forward to doing well in limited-overs cricket, before setting his eye on the longer version of the game.
“It’s something as players we’re excited about because you want to be playing and challenging yourself against the best players in the world,” Curran maintained.
Holding no fear for the bowler, Gayle, who returned to the ODI fold, would be aiming to make most of the opportunity given by Windies Cricket Board’s (WCB) national selectors alongside Marlon Samuels. To leave an impact, Curran stated it is a hard task to perform at the elite-stage of the international game.
Interestingly, Curran claimed the prized scalp of Gayle when the left-handed opening batsman was the part of English County Club Somerset in June 2016.
“We dropped deep square back and I bowled him a bumper and he top-edged it. So hopefully we can do that again,” Curran recalled the moment of the NatWest Twenty20 Blast.
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Focusing on his basics, Curran revealed he would feel contended after doing well against the top-notch players with the ball, as he has shown such promise while featuring in the two Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa a couple of months back.
“At the end of the day, it’s my skills about theirs, whoever is batting. When you do well against the best players, that’s when you get the most satisfaction,” Curran asserted.
Curran claimed two wickets on his international debut in a T20 at Taunton, before bagging five wickets in overall games while donning England colours.
“I was nervous as it’s a big step up but when I got out there and started playing, it was just going back to my skills,” Curran further added.
While talking in the context of the game, Gayle would be a massive threat for the bowlers and Curran is pretty much aware of the fact.
“Representing England at any format is a huge honour. A lot of players get a start in one format and if that goes well, it’s their way into other formats,” Curran concluded.
Curran has been roped in by the Global League T20 franchise Cape Town Knight Riders followed by Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League. England is scheduled to play one-off Twenty20 international followed by five-match One-day internationals, as the limited-overs series will kick start from September 16 (Saturday).
In the domestic set-up, Curran has played 52 List A matches in which he bagged 78 wickets at an average of 26.82.