A lot of eyebrows were raised when Delhi Daredevils decided to appoint Zaheer Khan as their captain. The former India international was never seen as a captaincy material in his playing career and his side’s performance in the season opener made the doubters even more vocal. But then the young side made a remarkable turnaround register four wins in the first six matches. Everyone saw a very new style of captaincy from Zaheer Khan as brought a refreshing approach with his unorthodox field placements.
Sam Billings, who made a superb fifty in his debut match against KKR,praised his captain and said that the former Indian pacer looks to out-think the smartest of batsmen around the world with his innovative field settings.
“He has been fantastic. When I was batting (in the nets), he set a field to me while (Mohammed) Shami and one of the young guys were bowling yorkers,” Billings said on the eve of the Gujarat Lions game on Monday (May 2). “Just the way he set that field was totally out of the box. There was no long on, instead, there was a fielder at cow corner cause he knew I was a slogger anyway. As a batsman, you don’t necessarily know that he’s going to bowl a yorker, he can bowl a bumper, he can bowl a slower ball. It puts the pressure back on you as a batter because where you want to be as a batter is knowing exactly where the bowler is going to bowl. It makes it easy if you’re one step ahead.
“All the best players do that. We keep saying about AB de Villiers, but he sweeps or goes over extra cover as seemingly he knows what the bowler is going to bowl. That’s half the battle won and that’s kind of turning the table a little bit and actually gives the bowlers more options and keeps the batsman guessing,” he added.
One of the things that will give Delhi Daredevils’ team management a lot of confidence is that different players stepped up for them in each game.
Be it Imran Tahir’s three-wicket spell and Chris Morris’ whirlwind half-century against Gujarat Lions, Billings, and Karun Nair’s fifties against Kolkata Knight Riders or Sanju Samson’s 60 against Mumbai Indians.Sam Billings said that no one’s place is the team is fixed and the management is picking the playing XI only on the basis of performance.
“The way the squad is at the moment you see [in] different games we have played different combinations more or less every game. If that wasn’t the case we would be playing the same 11 every time. We got a team and squad in good form every single one of them, even the ones who haven’t played a game yet.
“So, I think, in terms of that, the environment is such a good one that there is no animosity towards anyone. If I have to sit out, I have to sit out, but it won’t change my preparation or the other guys’ preparation. You have got to be ready, you never know when someone goes down sick or picks up an injury in the warm-up. You have to be ready. That is one of the things in this competition – the strongest squad will win the competition and not necessarily the strongest team. If we continue the way we are going I think we will have a good chance,” Billings added.
When asked about the advantages he will get by playing IPL, he said that the experience of playing in India would help him in his endeavour to improve his game against spin. He also went on to explain how playing in a format such as the IPL, where players from across nationalities share the dressing room, not only helps a cricketer improve his game, but also helps understand different cultures better.
“It helps to be a pretty young group, everyone’s looking to prove something. They’re friendly rivalries and everyone wants to kind of keep improving to get ahead of the next guy. Because ultimately this is a world stage. You impress here, you impress for your national team both as a local Indian guy but also as an overseas guy.
“In that way, I think, by understanding other guys and how different guys play helps you adjust better. I’ve spent a lot of time with Karun Nair and Sanju Samson off the field and get on very well with both those guys. Obviously, when running between the wickets you need that kind of understanding. So yes, it (off-field bonding) definitely helps. You build friendships. Ultimately, you play this game for 15 years and you want to have friends all over the world at the end of it.”
After a successful campaign in Pakistan Super League (PSL) campaign, where his team Islamabad United won the inaugural title, Billings hopes that he can replicate his success with Delhi too.