STUBBS LOVES PLAYING THE DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

“This guy, Tristan Stubbs, is a player!”

That was the iconic voice of legendary West Indian commentator Ian Bishop after Stubbs smashed Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar straight down the ground for a boundary.

Stubbs was in the midst of guiding the Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket victory over RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. 

The 24-year-old was showing off his growing maturity as the Sunrisers Eastern Cape star formed an unbroken 111-run partnership off just 55 balls with KL Rahul to maintain the Capitals’ unbeaten record at this season’s IPL

The key to Stubbs’ innings was that he was prepared to play the anchor role, contributing 38 not out off 23 balls (4x4, 1x6), while Rahul (93* off 53 balls, 7x4, 6x6) dominated the Royal Bangalore Challengers attack.

“It was really satisfying,” Stubbs said. “Came in a bit of a tricky situation but the run-rate never got out of hand. 

“To be honest, I didn’t have to do much, with the way KL Rahul batted.”

Stubbs, though, played his part to perfection as he accelerated at just the right times, especially when smashing RCB leg-spinner Suyash Sharma for a boundary and maximum off consecutive deliveries.

“Just gave myself some time, we lost quite a number of wickets. We were in a similar position in the run-chase last year (at this venue),” Stubbs said.

“We had lost four wickets and then kept on losing wickets. I saw what Tim (David) did in the end. It was just about one big over.”

Stubbs has certainly shown that he can adapt to various roles that he is required to play across formats. 

At Test level for the Proteas, Stubbs has often walked to the crease at first drop, while in the ODI’s he comes to crease at No 4. His role at Delhi though differs vastly as he is considered the "finisher".

“I think my roles recently have been so different,” he said. “I face the new ball in Test cricket. I feel international cricket can still be classed as old-school cricket.  

“Every sort of position is so different so you just tailor and be prepared for batting at the end. Often you enjoy batting later on in the game, in the beginning, you have to adjust quicker.

“I just try to fall back on past experiences. When it's really good, it frees you up.

“It's tough playing different situations, but it's cricket and that's why we love it.”