Ryan Rickelton 'chilled' over Proteas' World Cup omission with focus squarely on MI Cape Town

Ryan Rickelton is “chilled” with missing out Proteas’ T20 World Cup selection and is focusing squarely on helping MI Cape Town defend their Betway SA20 crown.

The MI Cape Town opener was overlooked for the 15-man national squad heading to the short-format jamboree in India and Sri Lanka next month. But instead of sulking over his omission, the southpaw has responded by topping the League’s run-scorers charts, which included his second century of the competition against the Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers on Saturday evening.

Rickelton’s undefeated 113 off 60 balls saw him become the only batter to score multiple SA20 centuries, and also reignited MI Cape Town’s campaign with a 36-run victory to keep the defending champions in the race for the playoffs.

“I’m over [the World Cup] already,” Rickelton said. “I’m here to play cricket, here to win games for this team, and then I will fall back with the Lions and try to win the four-day competition for the Lions. I’m chilled with it. I want to find my rhythm with my batting and win games with this team, which is probably the most important thing for me now.”

Rickelton’s T20 World Cup omission is partially due to the fact that he has yet to transfer his T20 domestic/franchise form to the international stage. In 18 T20Is, Rickelton has managed just 381 runs at an average of 21.16 and 134.15 strike-rate, which includes only two half-centuries. 

His last three ODI innings have also been underwhelming with scores of 1, 0 and 0 against England and India respectively. 

Rickelton’s prospects became even bleaker upon Quinton de Kock’s shock international comeback with the duo going directly head-to-head for a position at the top of the order and behind the stumps. 

De Kock’s Proteas’ return has been nothing short of sensational with the veteran winning the Player of the ODI series in Pakistan where he averaged 119.5 before following it up with a solid average of 38 in India. 

His T20 return in Pakistan was relatively quiet before exploding in India where he struck 156 runs at a strike-rate of 181.39. 

Rickelton admits that the last period with the Proteas has been turbulent. 

“It’s a big mental game. That’s been my biggest challenge. A few months ago in India I didn’t know if I was coming or going — with what I was trying to do. I felt I was batting quite nicely in India. I just didn’t get any returns,” he said.

But the 29-year-old wants to put all that behind and just focus on playing well for MI Cape Town. 

“You come back home, you experience your family and friends around you, you actually get to enjoy South Africa and being home. It can change the mental state, I suppose,” he said. 

“Jumping from team to team also gives you a new perspective. This team probably gets the best out of me; it frees me to play the way I want to play, and it takes me to the level I want to operate at 90% of the time.”