Yashpal counts the gains

“This year I got matches but not too many opportunities to bat at No 6 or 7. I reached South Africa on April 19 and had little time to acclimatise. But having said that,my and the team’s performance was below par,” the Delhi-based player says.

His 20-run knock against Rajasthan Royals could’ve had bigger implications than just being his personal best in the tournament and he cuts down on his natural flamboyance while admitting it. “Perhaps the match wouldn’t have gone down to the Super Over with Dada (Sourav Ganguly) and me in the middle. We got three boundaries off Munaf Patel’s last over,after all. I was playing an important knock and my job was to rotate the strike,” Yashpal says.

Then came an expansive drive attempted over cover that didn’t quite escape Abhishek Raut at deep extra cover. The way of dismissal didn’t match Yashpal’s role,but he said that was a part of the strategy too. “Dada had always told me to go after anything loose and when it came down to about a run-a-ball,I thought of finishing it off. It was manageable even after my dismissal,but Kamran Khan bowled a magical last over,” Yashpal adds.

For the takings,apart from a good finish,the right-hander has returned home with a bag of tricks of the T20 kind.

“Sharing the dressing room,the nets with people like Chris Gayle and (Brendon) McCullum,you learn as you watch. I was fortunate to have a few tips too. McCullum’s bat-speed is astonishing and that’s what makes him an extraordinary player in Twenty20. I want to work on that aspect this season,” he says.

Among another of his noticeable takings though,there’s one he actually dropped — Yuvraj Singh’s catch. “I thought I had taken it cleanly,but the replays said otherwise. At that moment,I really couldn’t judge it.”