“I don’t play for records but…,”: David reveals his mindset while trying to achieve “childhood dream”

Basseterre [St Kitts], July 26 (ANI): Australia’s Tim David revealed that, although he doesn’t play for records, the thought of scoring a hundred for his nation did cross his mind, which was a bit of “foreign territory" for him.

At 29, David eagerly waited for his maiden ton in Australian colours, and the opportunity finally presented itself on Firday night in Basseterre. He had a reputation for playing the finisher’s role to its full potential, but in the third T20I against the West Indies, he transcended beyond that capacity.

He came out to bat in the powerplay for just the third time in his career and blazed his way to the fastest T20I hundred for Australia, achieving the feat in a mere 37 deliveries. His boundary-hitting fest left the Caribbean side bamboozled, mowed down the 215-run target and paved the way for a record six-wicket triumph.

“I don’t play for records, but certainly I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity to score hundred and it is your childhood dream to score hundred for Australia. That was definitely in the back of my mind, and the position I’ve been playing, I probably played a lot of T20 matches now, and obviously I’ve never scored a hundred, so it was a little bit of foreign territory for me for a little bit," David said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

He raised a 128-run stand for the fourth wicket with Mitchell Owen, who played a belligerent, unbeaten cameo of 36(18). David thanked Owen for helping him through his history-shaping knock.

“But I’m just really thankful I had Mitch Owen out there, who’s scored a couple recently, and my younger teammate, but he’s certainly had the experience and helped me through," he added.

David clobbered the notion around his batting style with his flawless shot selection. He got off to the mark with a boundary off his ball when Australia were under serious pressure at 65/3. Mitchell Marsh chewed up a couple of deliveries, Cameron Green went for a wild swing, and both missed the mark while trying to keep the hefty run rate in check.

The 29-year-old, on the other hand, respected the threatening lines and punished those who missed the mark slightly. His lone dot delivery came when he was 19 off 8, but that moment served as the triggering point. In the same over, he tonked the ball for four towering maximums off Gudakesh Motie.

“I’ve spent a lot of time practicing my power-hitting, and to be honest, now I’m trying to focus on shot selection. Because that power game is always there, and it’s what I built my game around, it’s important to make the right decisions at the right time, and obviously, if you bat for a length of balls without getting out, then you get a chance to make big scores," David said in the post-match presentation.

“A lot of the practice I’ve been doing recently over the past six months has helped a lot. It’s about shot selection and not actually trying to hit it too hard. And it felt tonight like I wasn’t trying to hit it too hard, and it probably ended up with some good percentage of being able to hit the ball over the ropes," David said in the post-match press conference. (ANI)

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