IPL 2018: Dean Jones Wants Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambhir to Take a Leaf Out of Kane Williamson's Book

Updated - 19 May 2018, 09:13 PM

Credits: BCCI

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The New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has shown in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League that even classy and elegant batsman can be successful in the shortest format of the game.

He has played traditional cricketing shots and has been the pillar for Sunrisers Hyderabad at the top of the order. His contribution became that more important especially after the fact David Warner got ruled out of the tournament.

Given his current form and strokeplay, former Aussie batsman and a current commentator, Dean Jones feels struggling Indian batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir should take some tips from the New Zealand skipper.

“I did expect Williamson to do well. (David) Warner (Australia) not playing here has helped him enormously,” Jones was quoted as saying by PTI during a media interaction.

“Given the opportunity you take it, and he has picked it with both hands and reminded everyone in the world, because it is the best T20 League in the world, how good he is,” he said.

The professor of cricket, Dean also opined Williamson has played with a lot of freedom and tends to get into a classical position before he hits the ball.

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Williamson has shown his class, says Jones

“Because of that, he has built confidence. And now Sunrisers have put a lot of pressure on him, because if he hadn’t made any runs, Sunrisers would have been in a lot of trouble. But he has been the glue. You have other guys like (Gautam) Gambhir (who quit midway as captain of Delhi Daredevils), (Ajinkya) Rahane, for example, also classical players who might be wise to give him a call, watch him and see how he has gone about getting his strike rates into 130s-140s.”

“You tell me that Kane Williamson (who has scored 625 runs from 13 games so far) is stronger than Rahane and Gambhir, of course not, but the fact is that he has played with a bit more freedom and he gets into classic positions before he hits a ball. He has done very well and shown there is a spot in T20 for classical player,” Jones added.