Mumbai Indians picked Ryan Rickelton over Quinton de Kock on Monday, and it was the former who hit a stunning knock of 83 off 32 balls to lay a strong foundation while chasing a target of 229 runs. After the game, Rickelton said that he was ‘absolutely abused’ by compatriot de Kock for failing to score a hundred on the day as well.

“It’s been tricky, I suppose, to have a guy of Quinny’s calibre sitting on the bench at the start of the season. It was tricky to manage mentally because maybe you’re burning yourself with a bit more pressure to do well because you have a guy who’s flipping good sitting behind you, and the whole world’s screaming to pick him. So, trying to manage your way through that has a few challenges, and you can put yourself under a bit too much pressure. But on the flip side of that, I got an opportunity when he did some damage to his hand,” he said.

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As Rickelton returned to MI after his knock against LSG, de Kock was unhappy. In fact, Rickelton shared that de Kock was the first person to ‘abuse’ him for not completing a hundred as well.

“And I still back my game, I still back my skill, and the opportunity was there. I just really want to try to represent this team globally as well, but this team in general, Mumbai Indians. So, it’s always healthy competition. We’re very supportive of each other. I mean, he was the first person to absolutely abuse me tonight, saying I threw away a hundred, which I agree with. So, yeah, he’s very supportive. He’s helped me a lot this tournament. He’s watched my batting and he’s tweaking things along the way to help. I’m not sure what the structure is. So, yeah, it’s worked the way it’s worked so far. And like I said,” he stated.