These are still early days for Ryan Rickelton in international cricket but the young opener has already made his presence felt for South Africa. Over the last few months, he scored a Test century against Sri Lanka, followed it up with a double century against Pakistan, and on Friday, he scored his maiden ODI hundred as South Africa started its Champions Trophy campaign with a win against Afghanistan.
While the youngster is basking in glory, he is happy to prove his mettle as an all-format player. “It’s the kind of the point where I’m just really trying to simplify my batting. I have quite a nice foundation in what I wanted to achieve at the moment. I always want to be a three-format player, so to have that base is quite nice and to see that the results in the three different formats over the last two months has been quite warming for me as well,” Rickelton said.
Having made his international debut three years ago, the youngster has realised that it’s important to come in with a positive mindset and he has taken a leaf out of Shubman Gill and Travis Head’s books.
READ | Rickelton, bowlers power South Africa to massive win over Afghanistan
“If you look at the guys that have played three formats really well, like Travis Head, Shubman Gill, you will see that they all play similar cricket across all three formats. So, I’m really just trying to keep it simple, be confident in the way I’m trying to play,” he added.
While the wicket behaved differently as both the teams had anticipated, Rickelton partnered with captain Temba Bavuma to forge a crucial partnership for the second wicket and paved the way for the team’s 300-plus total, which Afghanistan failed to chase down. Having started on a winning note, the team now hopes to end its title jinx in ICC events.
“We are desperate to win it. There’s no doubt about it,” Rickelton said.
“But it’s insane that we don’t burden ourselves with that extra pressure. If you look at our ODI group from the World Cup in 2023, that side that was playing there was phenomenal. It was a powerful side as well. So again, I don’t think there’s any extra pressure on the guys. Everyone has gained that extra year of experience, that extra year of knowledge on what they’re trying to do and how they’re trying to do it,” the opening batter added.
South Africa faces Australia next at the Rawalpindi Stadium on Tuesday.