‘I would keep Tests to five days’
Holder of many batting records, former South African opener Hashim Amla had an illustrious international career and was rated as one of the finest batsmen in world cricket. The ever-so-humble Amla, who is playing for Khulna Tigers in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League, spoke to The Daily Star’s Mazhar Uddin about topics ranging from Test cricket, his own batting to Bangladesh cricket. The following are the excerpts of the interview.
The Daily Star (TDS): Was it a tough call to retire from international cricket?
Hashim Amla (HA): After the [2019] World Cup I gave it some thought and I have no regrets after serving 15 years in international cricket. I could have never imagined how things went, but Alhamdulillah, it did. It wasn’t a tough decision but I thought it the right time. I have always tried to play cricket the best way, giving my absolute all in the field and practice. I am very grateful for whatever I have.
TDS: From 2,000 to 7,000 ODI runs, you were the fastest to reach each landmark and were also the fastest to 27 ODI hundreds. You are also the only South African to score a Test triple hundred. Did you feel like you were in a race against time?
HA: No, not at all (smiles). You know when these types of milestones came up, I had no knowledge of them as you get told of such things later. Playing cricket was never about that for me as it can start to work on my mind. There was no race against time… I enjoyed playing international cricket and scoring runs at the top level.
TDS: There has been talk of shortening Test cricket from five days to four. What’s your take?
HA: I would keep it to five days if it’s up to me. I haven’t given it a lot of thought as a lot more goes on behind closed doors with the brains trust of the ICC. As a player who has played, I wouldn’t change it.
TDS: You have your own unique technique as a batsman. Was the belief in your technique there from the start or did you adapt to it when you started playing international cricket?
HA: Everyone’s technique evolves the more they play international cricket. Certainly, at the start, when you are playing domestic cricket, you certainly have such analyses of your batting. So, you play and you do well and play for South Africa in international cricket, then other things are made to work for you so you do better and work on a few things. The analysis that happens in international cricket is always a way to improve. So that’s a natural evolution of a batsman who plays international cricket.
TDS: What is your message to someone, say a Bangladeshi cricketer who has played a couple of international seasons but cannot quite reach the next level, be to get success at the top level?
HA: There are many passages to improve. There is dealing with the distractions coming into success and failures. Both have their downfalls. When you have success, it’s easy to get complacent and you might feel relaxed at times. When you fail you lose courage to improve those types of things, it is tough to manage and most international players find ways to manage. It’s not about scoring or not scoring runs; it’s the constant striving to improve and the process that are important, and preparing accordingly. If you have a good coach educating on such things, it helps your career, which worked well for me. It’s not that you have to bat only according to the basics as there should be an individualism of every batter to do well with their own styles.
TDS: What is discipline for Hashim Amla?
HA: I think discipline goes in hand with manners. It’s about doing what’s important at a given time. If you have a match tomorrow you would want to sleep early or if you don’t have a game you can stay up late to spend time with your family. In the game, it’s remaining as focused as you can be on the task at hand and try not to be caught up by the many distractions of wanting to do things that you haven’t practiced, as it does enter a batsman’s mind.
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