“It’s a little difficult being an allrounder because it seems when the batting picks up, you lose a bit of the bowling, and vice versa”
Vishal Dikshit17-Mar-2024Firstly, how does it feel to have taken so many wickets after your recent injuries and poor health?
It’s obviously good to up my team into the finals. It’s always nice contributing and taking wickets with the new ball. I feel like it’s so important in the T20 format, especially in these leagues, because the top order is so heavy with internationals, especially, and big hits. So I feel like something that’s needed in T20 cricket is wickets, early wickets.Earlier in the tournament you had said your advice to youngsters in the Delhi Capitals squad is ‘work as hard as you can when you are young because when you’re older it’s about being fresh on game days’. Now that you are 34 and there’s cricket happening around the year, how have you had to change your fitness and routines?
For me, it’s actually been downscaling, because I used to train so hard and especially worked so hard on my skills that when there was game day, I was just too tired to actually play. It took a lot of mental work because I’m someone that needs to bowl a certain amount of balls and need to spend a certain amount of time in the nets [batting], otherwise I don’t feel confident. It was more a mindset change knowing that I’ve put in the work even though it’s not as much as it used to be when I was younger because, like I said, now it’s more important for me to be fresh knowing I’ve done that work, not only now but for the last 15 years.You got a lot of swing in the last league game against Gujarat Giants and even Ellyse Perry picked up 6 for 15 with her seam movement. Has it surprised you that pace bowlers have found so much purchase from the pitches in Delhi?
Yes and no. I feel every single wicket we’ve played on has been so different. Even today, I still don’t know if it’s better when you win the toss you bowl first or bat first because the wickets have really been so different. The last game, there was probably a little bit more bounce and movement, yes, but I still felt like it was slow. And the other day, it was extremely flat and nothing in it for pace bowlers or even spinners. You don’t know what to expect.Marizanne Kapp was at her absolute best with the bat in the ODIs in Australia earlier this year•Getty ImagesYou have been particularly effective in the powerplays. How do you prepare for that phase when you know some of the best and hard-hitting batters are going to go after you?
I’ve found if I just stick to what I do best I usually end up with the wickets or being quite economical. There were some games where I went for a bit of runs when I changed what I do well. When I thought they would maybe try and lap or they were going to run at me or step across the line and I try something different, that’s usually when I go for runs. But if they do those things and I stick to what I do best, usually it works out. So I just try and keep it simple, hit my hard back of a length, bowl line and length, and try and bowl as many dot balls as possible.You said after your spell of 3 for 5 against UP Warriorz that you weren’t too happy about your bowling in the last couple of months and you went back and worked on it. Can you tell us what exactly you were unhappy with and what you did to rectify it?
I feel like it’s again a little difficult being an allrounder because it seems when the batting picks up, you lose a bit of the bowling, and vice versa. So I felt like I was probably just leaning back a little bit in the crease while I was bowling the last couple of months and I started slinging a bit more and bowling from lower down. I just went back and looked at some footage of me in the past and tried to be a bit more upright from the crease and the momentum going forward. For me, my biggest weapon is trying to land the ball on the seam and usually when I’m at my best, if I do that, the ball either nips in or out.What are some of the frequently asked questions by the younger Indian players in the Capitals camp?
They sometimes ask if they should have bowled this ball or should have had this field and, usually, I would just tell them what I think. Or I would tell them to first stick to bowling their line and length for as long as possible before they go to their death bowling or, on a wicket where it’s a bit slower and there’s a bigger boundary, bowling it into the wicket rather than going full and straight at the stumps. It’s more little things but in general the girls are quite good with their plans and what they want to do out in the middle.You have been batting higher up for both South Africa and Capitals in recent times. What aspects of batting did you have to keep in mind after this change?
When I started my career, I batted higher up for South Africa in any case. So that’s something that comes to me a little bit easier. In the last couple of years, I’ve just tried to work on finishing games or being there at the back end. So I don’t think it changes too much whether you’re batting a bit higher up or lower down.
“I feel in T20 cricket you sometimes get away with bad technique or bad bowling, whereas in ODI cricket you have to be good at your skills for so much longer”Marizanne Kapp
You said recently your favourite format is still ODI cricket but there’s a T20 World Cup coming up. How is your body shaping up and how much are you looking forward to it?
I still enjoy T20 cricket as well. It’s just that I feel ODI cricket brings out the skills and I feel in T20 cricket you sometimes get away with bad technique or bad bowling, whereas in ODI cricket you have to be good at your skills for so much longer. I still enjoy T20 cricket and I’m looking forward to the World Cup. I feel like my bowling is coming back and the last couple of months the batting has been good as well. So I’m looking forward to the World Cup and hopefully I can contribute a lot more there for South Africa.Since the start of 2023, your T20 batting strike rate is about 120, which is well above your career strike rate [99.24]. Did you consciously change that to keep up with the pace of the game or did it just happen?
If you look at my stats and where I’ve probably batted, when I played most of those matches… me, personally, I don’t look too much into those stats because if you look at the amount of T20s I’ve played for South Africa in the last five years, it’s actually not been a lot. Most of my games have been prior to that and that’s probably when I wasn’t batting as well and batting a lot lower down and not feeling confident about my batting. If you look at the leagues and South Africa the last two years, I feel like my strike rate is even higher than 120. I feel it’s me as a player being a little bit older now, playing more in these leagues and understanding what is needed. I feel like I’ve always had the shots and the power, it’s just believing in my skill a little bit more.We’ve seen your wife Dane van Niekerk wearing the Capitals jersey in the stands. How much does it help to have a fellow cricketer as a partner who understands and knows what it’s like to have a good or bad day on the field?
It helps a lot. I’ve said it previously, especially when it comes to her being a [former South Africa] captain as well. What fields I would want or a lot of times I’ll ask her, ‘what field do you think I need for this batter or if they do this, what do I do then, where do I look to score?’ Yeah, that really helps a lot because obviously Dane has a massive knowledge about cricket and she understands the game so well. Again, in saying that, sometimes as well when I enter the room, I just don’t want to speak about cricket. So every now and then I have to tell her, ‘okay, enough today’.”Dane has a massive knowledge about cricket and she understands the game so well”•Ben Hoskins/ECB/Getty ImagesIt must be tough to see her sitting out when you play international cricket?
Yeah, it’s such a waste of such a talented cricketer, to be sitting on the sidelines. But she’s been working hard and hopefully we’ll see her come back. I feel like she’s too young and too talented to not play international cricket and to not play in these leagues. She has so much knowledge and so much to give back to the game.We’ve heard about the South Africa coaching staff changing. Can you tell us what about the current environment, what has helped you thrive?
For me personally, it’s just the amount of years I’ve spent in international cricket and the leagues I’ve played in. For me, it’s more about the confidence I have in my own skill, what I want to do and obviously I love representing my country and doing well and helping them win. So that has always been my main goal and my main focus.Does the exposure to a different style of coaching change the way you’ve played and how?
Yes, definitely. I think if you not only look at the South African coaching set-up but you get different coaches in all these leagues and everyone gives their input and you see how they do things… as a player, there’s a fine line [when it comes to] allowing people to just change things in your game, but I feel like there’s definitely value in working with different coaches and seeing how they do things. I always say that you have to use the leagues and coaches as you use what you think will work for you; and things that you feel is not going to work, or won’t make an impact, you just push to one side, because I feel like as an international cricketer and especially in the women’s game, there’s a lot of info coming in and you can’t always take everything on board. So you have to be very careful with who and what you listen to and what you try and implement in your own game.
