NEWS
Follow UsRomario Shepherd always came with the expectation of being a brutal hitter of the cricket ball. But that became evidently obvious when he scored a truly amazing 10-ball 39 against the Delhi Capitals on Sunday (April 7) at the Wankhede Stadium.
He walked into bat with just 13 balls to spare and made an impact that would stay in the minds of the Delhi bowlers for the rest of the reason. The big West Indian all-rounder slaughtered the Delhi unit, and in particular, Anrich Nortje. Off Nortje’s last over, Shepherd scored 32 runs with four sixes and two fours.
It was power-hitting of the finest calibre, and all that Shepherd had to say in the aftermath was ‘keep the eyes on the ball and head in a stable position’.
“Firstly, when I went out, you (David) told me to keep my eyes on the ball and head in a position. I just did that, the crowd were amazing, and the wickets were truly amazing to bat,” Shepherd told IPLT20.com.
"But whenever you walk out to bat in the 17th over, you just go with a clear mind. There’s no holding back, everything said that it was my time, and I just had to express myself. You are even more dangerous when you have to just hit the ball. When you see the ball, hit the ball, you are in a clear mindset," Shepherd said in the post-match presentation.
"When there are only 18 balls, you will face only six-seven, you have to maximise and hit it as well as you can. Some days it will come off, some days it won't. On days like this when it comes off, it feels special," he added.
There was one particular shot that stood out when the West Indian all-rounder moved to the off-side and smacked the ball over the fine-leg region for a massive six. The fun fact is that he was expecting the ball to be wide outside off, and the timing on that was just reactionary stuff.
“Actually, I was going for a wide one, but it didn’t go wide, it went straight. So, I swiped and swung very hard. I connected,” he recollected.
While making his IPL debut this season as an impact player in a high-scoring run-fest against Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was the first time he started in the XI for the five-time IPL winners. The clash was made even more special with Jio’s initiative of bringing kids at the Wankhede.
“It feels special, the owners are doing a good job for the kids. Good to see that the kids came out and supported with heart, good to know that we gave them something to smile about. The win is very important for us at this stage in the competition, good for them to go and sleep on,” he said.
Shepherd also spoke about the influence of Kieron Pollard in his batting, revealing that the former Windies man just asked him to hold his shape and smack the ball.
"It is incredibly hard in a day game, given the heat and stuff, we practised that before the clash. Also, I have worked closely with Kieron Pollard for the past couple of weeks, it was something that he was telling me, hold my shape and you can hit the ball a long way," he said.
On the other hand, his partner-in-crime Tim David, talked about how the surface wasn’t really allowing for power-hitting in the middle overs and required a few hits off the middle to get the rail back on track.
“It felt like I was working hard with Hardik (Pandya) to get the momentum back at that stage. It was at a crucial stage, I got a couple of the middle. Once you get a few, you start feeling better. We got the momentum, and then I handed it to the big boy to finish the game,” David said.
Last over 32 runs, these are stuff that are made of magic. Here, the magician was Shepherd. The West Indian all-rounder recollected the final over, stating that his mindset was quite clear: hit every ball out of the ground.
“First of all, the first ball went for a four, I actually came down the wicket and give you the strike. But once I hit the four, I was like why give you the strike. Then I actually went back with a clear mindset that I’m hitting every ball out of the ground. Thanks for giving me company,” Shepherd concluded.
