Following his match-winning hundred for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), opener Finn Allen shared his happiness with his knock, stating that he tried backing himself to bat at least 40 balls as well. After some time away from the pitch, he unleashed his absolute best against the Capitals at Arun Jaitley Stadium with a 47-ball 100*, easily chasing down the target of 143 set by DC as well.

“I have been working on having more strings in my bow. Had to be more responsible after a couple of early wickets. I tried to knuckle down early; it was challenging early on. Axar (Patel) bowled early. The strategy was to get in a good position and bat deep. That is my model: stay in when it is tough, give myself a chance,” he said.

“I have got a few starts, frustrating not to carry on, nice to have some personal success. When the situation comes, you forget about your batting and focus on the situation. I knew if I stayed out for a long time, 40 balls, which does not happen too often, I would score enough. Sometimes, being left out changes your perspective. Allows time for mental refresh. I was putting on too much pressure on myself,” he further added.

READ HERE: Shubman Gill Breaks Silence On ODI Futures Of Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli

“(This is almost Finn Allen 2.0?) Oh, I think, you know, what I’ve been working on is trying to have more strings to my bow. We obviously lost a couple of early wickets, so I just tried to have a bit of responsibility and get a win on the board for the boys. (Shifting gears?) I mean, like I said, I just tried to knuckle down early. It was still a little bit challenging at the start, Axar bowled really well and restricted us. So like I said, just try to get in strong positions and bat deep. (About his six hitting) I think that’s the model I’ve been trying to do with my batting, I guess. If it’s not easy, stay in there, working with Watto (Watson) and Abhishek (Nayar) as well,” he added.

“You know, just trying to give myself a chance. I feel like I’ve got a few starts and it’s been pretty frustrating, but here nice to, I guess, have a little bit of personal success. (How difficult is it to sort of pace your innings the way you did today?) I think when the situation comes to it, you just forget about my batting and play the situation. I think I knew if I stayed out there for a long period of time, I always come back to trying to bat 40 balls. It doesn’t happen too often, but that was just what was keeping me ticking today and trying to take a deep.”

“(How does a player like you react to being out of the side and then coming back?) Oh look, I think sometimes it changes your perspective, right? You go out of the team, have a bit of time for a mental refresh. To be honest, I was just putting too much pressure on myself at the start. So it was nice to have that, sit back, refresh and come back in,” he concluded.