'AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah are rare': Wiaan Mulder

Wiaan Mulder plays for Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket. (Image courtesy: TSK) NEW DELHI: The busy calendar of modern cricket is extremely demanding and South African all-rounder Wiaan Mulder believes the era of cricketers thriving in all three formats is slowly coming to an end. The 28-year-old, who plays for Texas Super Kings (TSK) in the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC), reflected on the rapid growth of cricket in the United States, highlighted the benefits of South Africa’s multi-sport culture and praised the SA20 for strengthening the country’s international teams across all formats during an exclusive interaction with TimesofIndia. com.ExcerptsHow would you describe the cricket culture in the US?I think the culture of cricket is quite strong. Most of the local people are from cricketing countries and moved to USA to pursue cricketing career. The quality of local players is really good.In our team (TSK), players like Abhi (Abhimanyu Lamba), Amshi (Amshi De Silva) and some of the South Africans who are now representing USA are really strong cricketers. This is one of the reasons why the league is so competitive.If you look at the top wicket-takers and the top run-scorers, many of them are representing the USA, which is a really promising sign for the league and cricket in the country. Hopefully they can produce more local players who are born and raised in America because that is the ultimate goal to get Americans involved in the game and exposed to cricket. American sports fans are incredibly loyal to their own sports, so that’s a barrier cricket needs to break. But I think that barrier is slowly starting to fall.

Wiaan Mulder of the Texas Super Kings greets the Seattle Orcas after their six-goal win in the opener. (Photo courtesy of TSK)

These days players who compete in all three formats are becoming rarer and you are one of those players. How difficult is it to maintain a career across Tests, ODIs, T20Is and franchise cricket? Is it sustainable in the long term?It’s really hard to be honest. I saw a quote from Ashwin a few days ago where he said that T20 cricket should almost be considered a different game than ODI and Test cricket. I agree to some extent. Your skill sets have to constantly evolve in T20 cricket because the way the game is played now leaves very little room for predictability. In one-day and four-day cricket, bowling on top of the stumps is still very effective. In T20 cricket, I realized that as a bowler I needed to add a few weapons to my armoury.As fired, it is similar. Check out the innings played by Rovman Powell (27-ball 73) against us. That’s pure power. It’s not something you usually do in one-day or four-day cricket. There is a different element of batting in these formats.

I saw a quote from Ashwin a few days ago where he said that T20 cricket should almost be considered a different game than ODI and Test cricket. I agree to some extent. Your skill sets have to constantly evolve in T20 cricket because the way the game is played now leaves very little room for predictability.

Wiaan Mulder | TSK player

All three formats are extremely difficult to play, which is why few players manage to be consistently successful in all of them. In the future, I think players will have to choose more and more. Your body takes a beating because each format requires something different physically. It hurts and it’s uncomfortable.It is also difficult to stay away from T20 cricket because of money. But Test cricket will always have a place for people who really love the game.

Guwahati, Nov 22 (ANI): South African batsman Wiaan Mulder plays a shot during the first day of the second Test match between India and South Africa at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. (NOT a photo)

People often talk about the adjustments required when moving from T20 cricket to the longer formats. But what about the opposite? If one is primarily a red-ball player, how much technical change is required to succeed in T20 cricket?There are a lot of changes. Technique is one part of it and the mental side is another. If you look at the players who are consistently successful in T20 cricket, their techniques often look very different to those who excel in four-day cricket and to some extent in one-day cricket. Technical adjustments are definitely necessary if you want to be successful across formats. This is what makes players like AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli so special. They are constantly looking for ways to adapt their games to different formats. Even someone like Jasprit Bumrah has a skill set that is incredibly adaptable across formats. Tech is a huge part of the game and is constantly evolving. You’re always trying to find an edge, improve and help your team win because that’s what it’s all about.

The Impact Player rule removes my biggest strengths, which are batting and bowling, and brings balance to the team. I think it’s fantastic for the fans because teams can score 200 at almost any stage.

Wiaan Mulder | TSK

As an all-rounder, what do you think about the Impact Player rule? Some senior cricketers believe this affects the development of true all-rounders. how do you see it?I guess there’s a reason you’re asking me because it pretty much puts me off the game. The Impact Player rule removes my biggest strengths, which are batting and bowling, and brings balance to the team. I think it’s fantastic for the fans because teams can score 200 at almost any stage. The batting line-ups go all the way down and you see players like Venkatesh Iyer coming in at No.9 and scoring fifty off 25 balls to win games.So it’s definitely good for the audience and probably the commercial side of the game. But as a cricketer and someone who loves the game, I enjoy the tactical battles, the cat and mouse aspect of cricket. The Impact Player rule takes some of that away and makes it more of a one-way contest.Did it work in IPL? Absolutely. This gives the batsmen enormous freedom and has forced the bowlers to be incredibly accurate. Personally, I’d rather it wasn’t there.

South Africa are the reigning WTC champions.

South African cricketers often grow up playing multiple sports. We have heard stories of players who have excelled in other sports. How much has this sporting culture helped South African cricketers and what sports did you play as a child?I played a lot of sports in my childhood, tennis, rugby, cricket and golf. School sport is a massive part of South African culture. As children, we are encouraged to play as many sports as possible and simply enjoy competing. It certainly helps. I think it makes us more competitive and better athletes. If you look at South Africans in general, we’re pretty good athletes across different sports and I think that’s a competitive advantage. On the other hand, if someone specializes in one sport from a young age, they can become exceptionally skilled very quickly.However, for me, playing multiple sports has made me a better athlete and that is valuable in cricket because you need to bat, bowl and field. It definitely benefits us as a nation.

A lot of that comes from the SA20 as it exposed many domestic cricketers at a high level. It has had a huge positive impact not only on our domestic players but also on our international cricketers as we play highly competitive cricket all the time.

Wiaan Mulder | TSK

South African cricket has had a remarkable year, winning the World Test Championship after facing criticism for its team selection earlier in the cycle. How do you see this team progressing across formats and can South Africa continue to win big titles?It was a special time for South African cricket. So many players were involved when we won the Test World Cup. A lot of guys scored hundreds, a lot of them took five wickets and different players came on at different times. Even in the final, different people decided. That’s what made the team so strong.A lot of that comes from the SA20 as it exposed many domestic cricketers at a high level. It has had a huge positive impact not only on our domestic players but also on our international cricketers as we play highly competitive cricket all the time. I really hope it continues because I think South African cricket is going in the right direction.

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Share an opinionThe biggest challenge will always be to keep our best players committed to international cricket. Not only in South Africa, but everywhere, the money offered by franchise leagues is incredibly attractive.Keeping a player prioritizing international cricket with such a demanding schedule is difficult. At the moment we have players who put South Africa first and that is something we have got right. Whether it will continue in the long term I’m not sure but I hope so because there’s nothing like playing Test cricket for South Africa. The feeling and team environment is very hard to replicate anywhere else. I think international cricket will eventually be played in dedicated windows while the franchise leagues continue to grow. But South African cricket has a very strong culture and we love representing our country. If this remains a priority, I believe South Africa will continue to compete at the highest level.