Tim David, who has turned out to be a maverick batter for Mumbai Indians, has been recognised by Mark Waugh and aspires to play for Australia.
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Record five-time champions Mumbai Indians have looked like a pale shadow of themselves in IPL 2022. The Rohit Sharma-led side created an unwanted record of eight consecutive losses on the trot before registering their first win in the lucrative tournament this season. But their slump in form makes perfect sense as the franchise is still looking to compile their best XI from the new look squad which was formed at the IPL mega auction.
Mumbai Indians have shown that they have an array of talents including the likes of Dewald Brevis, Tilak Verma, Jofra Archer, new joinee Tristan Stubbs and batting maverick Tim David in their line-up who can prove to be a handful in the upcoming season. Their middle-order which used to have Hardik Pandya in the line-up might have looked shaky with Kieron Pollard not holding the fort after his release but David has shown that he can be relied on with the bat.
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The Singapore-batter notched up an unbeaten knock of 44 off 21 deliveries in the IPL 2022 match against table topper Gujarat Titans to guide his side to 177/6 in the stipulated 20 overs. His innings was laced with two boundaries and four hits over the fence and more importantly it came at a time when the Mumbai Indians needed some assurance form their batter after facing a tough time throughout the season.
“It was nice to hit a couple out of the middle, but a little bit disappointed with how we finished. We had a great start. We have come out firing with the ball, put the pressure on. We are probably a little bit short, I was just trying to get as many as we could, tried to maximise. It’s my job to finish off the innings as I’m the recognised batsman. I’d already 10-15 balls,” David said in the mid-innings break.
“It’s pretty tough for Ash to come on strike and try and hit sixes. I would have liked to capitalise on a few more balls there. It’s a nice feeling anytime you hit a six but I was just focusing on getting as many runs as possible for the team. The wicket is pretty good, so there’s not a lot of options for the bowlers at the end. First time I’m facing some of these guys, got to give yourself a chance. At the same time, got to be ready to go.”
It was in 2019 that he was delisted by Western Australia. But his fine performances for Perth Scorchers and Hobart Hurricanes later has not only made him an asset but also put him on the Australia selection radar. He had an outstanding strike rate of 153.29 in the league in 2018 and later went to the Pakistan Super League and belted 180 runs with a strike-rate of 166.66. “The one player I thought was worth a gamble at least in the travelling squad was Tim David,” Mark Waugh had said ahead of the T20 World Cup last year.
