File photo of Virat Singh
Virat Singh's house went into a frenzy during the IPL 2020 Auction. While he was playing for Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy, he couldn't talk to people back home but once he returned home, there was no end to the happiness...afterall he went for INR 1.90 crore following a bidding war betwene Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab and now he gets to rub shoulders with David Warner and Kane Williamson after SRH snapped him up for a lucrative fee.
And, that remains Virat's priority. The East Singhbhum born batsman wants to learn from the best and when he does get to join the team, his first priority is to pick the brains of Warner and Williamson.
"After joining the team in this tournament I would like to learn 'aggression' from David Warner and how cool (ie cool) it is from Ken Williamson," Virat said in an exclusive interview to indiatvnews.com
For him, the goal is to play for India and now that he is in the IPL system, it could be a tad easier.
"The IPL platform is like an elevator to get entry into Team India. You can play domestic cricket as much as you want, but if you dominate in IPL then it becomes easy to enter Team India," said the 22-year-old.
Virat, who is of the same age as his Jharkhand teamamte Ishan Kishan, was set to play under him in the 2016 U-19 World Cup. But, a slump in form meant he was dropped and that perhaps changed his fate. Post that, he went to England to work on his game and according to him, that's where he truly discovered his style and potential.
"Initially my two years were not good. After that the coach advised me to go to England. That is how I was playing for the last two years on behalf of the Seaham Harbor Cricket Club in Durham County, England. Played the match and my real game came out. If you ask me then I would like to give all the credit to England in my cricket. Where I learned to finish the match," said a happy Virat.
Sunrises have a beefed up batting order with Jonny Bairstow and Warner at the top and followed by Williamson and Manish Pandey. Add Vijay Shankar to the mix and it gets increasingkly difficult to breakthrough but Virat is unfazed...all he wants to do is play and score runs at the middle when presented with an opportunity.
"In domestic cricket, I have also been sent to number three, number four and the lower middle order. I don't mind that, I just want to score runs in the middle of the wicket. Whatever the batting order is, it doesn't matter," he said.
Virat also credited Mahendra Singh Dhoni for helping him out and stressed that he is learning to finish games like the former India captain.
"I have occasional conversations with Dhoni bhai, but I learn a lot from his playing style, how to take the game forward and how to finish it. I learn all that by watching him," he said before singing off.
