“MICT frees me up and brings out the best in me”: Ryan Rickelton

On the back of a stunning 60-ball 113 that set the tone for the match and lifted MI Cape Town to a winning total of 243, Ryan Rickelton, the man of the moment, was at the post-match press conference. Excerpts.. 

On a century coming in a winning cause 

Thank God we won the game (laughs). Nice to go back to back wins. We’ve lacked momentum in this tournament. If we can start finding it now, it will be great. But we’ve put ourselves under a bit of pressure to be in this spot. But awesome to get out there and put in a performance. We aren’t complete yet, but we are showing signs of improvement. Hopefully we are on a bit of a roll now and can get some wins under our belt. 

Importance of gaining momentum after the last game 

Really big. In a rain affected game, it gets difficult. When we came back after the break, there was a bit of urgency which we lacked through the season. We had that in moments again today. We are definitely taking the right steps. We’ve got two now. We need to try and make it three or four in a row. We’ve got some tough opposition. Pretoria Capitals are a very good side. And then Sunrisers are at the top. Still a lot of work to do. If we can brush up on a few areas and keep getting better, hopefully we can try and win a few more. 

Team meeting after the first half of the tournament 

We always have our strategy meetings with the senior guys and the staff. The leadership group spoke about what it would take to turn around. We worked out that if we are to win this tournament we had six or seven games and we need seven Man of the Matches, which would come from the seven of us. It’s just trying to be sharper and just make the right decisions. We have been poor in different stages of the tournament in putting together a complete game. The whole purpose of the senior group is that if we are to win this tournament, it has to come from the six-seven of us. If we are going to win it, six or seven of us have to come to the party. We are taking the right steps. We have such great players in our group. It’s just trying to improve what we are trying to do, making sure we are doing the right things and guys are putting in big individual performances. 

On missing out on South Africa’s T20 WC squad 

I’m here to play my cricket and win games for this team. After this I’ll fall back to the Lions and win the four day cup with the Lions. I’m pretty chill with it. I want to find my rhythm with the bat and win games for my team. 

On finding form and rhythm 

It’s such a big mental game. That’s my biggest challenge. In India a couple of months ago, I wasn’t sure what I was trying to do. Trying to work out my game around that is one of the more difficult things. In India I thought I was batting nicely, I just didn’t have anything to return for it. It’s just the simple things of life, you come back home, experience your family and friends around you, get to enjoy South Africa and being home can change the mental state. When you jump from team to team, it gives you a different perspective. I’ve had that when I come to this team. It’s probably the team that gets the best out of me. It frees me up in the way I want to play. Takes me to the level I want to operate at 90% of the time. I enjoy playing for this team, enjoy the players we have, enjoy the group. I enjoy life in Cape Town as well. 

On Robbie Peterson, the Head Coach 

I’ve only experienced Robbie with this team, not in domestic cricket. Sometimes I feel he sells himself short. He’s so experienced, so knowledgeable, specially in South African conditions. He has coached around the world in different franchises. He has played around the world in different franchises. His man management skill is really good. The guys buy into what he is saying. He is very calm, very relaxed and strategic. We haven’t quite done him justice in stages of the tournament and perhaps in the year before last. But we all rally around playing for him and the support staff. 

Thoughts on the pitch and the par score 

I felt it came on quite nicely with the new ball. You saw some of them turning quite a lot. There was definitely room for a lot more of those deliveries in the game. Luckily Rassie got us off to a really nice start and I could work around the pace of the wicket. Wanderers is a tricky one because sometimes the more you play on this wicket it gets better and better. You look at it and are a bit unsure, but that is the best part about having guys who play here. They know what it is going to do, touchwood, you kind of know how to play on it. I thought teams were a bit slow in adapting what to do with the ball. I don’t think it was a 240 but maybe a 180-190 would have been a good score. Glad we were able to push through and find our win today.