IPL 2022: Tim David Will Be Under Pressure When He Plays For Mumbai Indians - Shane Watson

Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has said that big-hitting Singaporean cricketer Tim David will be under pressure to perform when he plays in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) for the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise. David had earlier played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team as well.

The two-day mega auction for the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) witnessed ten teams spend more than Rs 550 crore in total with over 204 players being sold over the weekend, including 67 overseas players.

Tim David’s purchase for Rs 8.25 crore by five-time champions Mumbai Indians was among the deals that made headlines over the weekend. David had been picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last year, but he played just one game — against Chennai Super Kings in the tournament’s second half in the UAE.

David has represented Singapore in international cricket in 14 T20Is, collecting 558 runs at an average of 46.5 and a strike rate of 158.52 since his debut against Qatar in July 2019.

He has also been in selection plans for the Australian team as well, due to his dual citizenship. David has represented Perth Scorchers and Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, though it is with the latter that his career really took off.

Definitely, With The High Price Tag, Comes A Lot Of Expectations And Pressure From Your Franchise: Shane Watson On Tim David Playing For Mumbai Indians

PSL’s Lahore Qalandars decided to sign him as a replacement for Joe Burns in the mini-auction in PSL 2021 and in the six appearances that he made, scoring 180 runs at an average of 46 with a strike rate of 166.66.

Ahead of the IPL 2022, Shane Watson spoke about Tim David’s huge price tag of INR 8.25 crores and the expectations that come with it.

“Definitely, with the high price tag, comes a lot of expectations and pressure from your franchise. It is not until you get into the gametime when you really know how to absorb that pressure that is there.

“I have seen a number of players who have had that expectation and they thrived under it — Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are those kinds of guys,” said Watson on the ‘ICC Review’ show.

“But there are a number of guys, you can see that the pressure suffocated their performance. Tim David of Singapore plays in the BBL, first time he has got the opportunity to play in the IPL and he will play for Mumbai Indians, so there will be pressure. It does provide different complexities and it is exciting about the IPL,” he added.

Mumbai Indians IPL 2022 squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, N Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Tim David, Riley Meredith, Mohd Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen.

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