With a largely inexperienced squad selected to do duty for South Africa against Ireland in their T20 International (T20I) series starting in Abu Dhabi on Friday, Tristan Stubbs has welcomed a more senior role in the side.
Though he has played just 29 T20Is for the Proteas, that makes him the third most experienced player in the top six of the batting lineup behind Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram.
The rest of the Proteas top order batsmen in the squad, Jason Smith (one), Matthew Breetzke (six) and Ryan Rickelton (six) have 13 T20I caps between them.
Despite the extra responsibility and being moved from six to four in the batting order, Stubbs said he would enjoy the new challenge.
Tristan Stubbs' explosive 72 off 28 balls against England stunned the opposition with his power-hitting display. pic.twitter.com/VEs6qpY0UX
— Best Of Batters (@BestOfBatters) August 11, 2024
‘That experience is nice to fall back on’
"I wouldn't say there is more pressure on me now. Yes, I've played a bit more which helps and I've played a lot of T20 games to see a lot of things and have been put in a lot of different situations. So, that experience is nice to fall back on,” Stubbs told SportsBoom.com.
“I wouldn't say I have more pressure because in the bigger scheme of things in international cricket I'm still young.”
The 24-year-old Stubbs, though, has played over 100 T20s as he solidified his place in the Delhi Capitals this year in the Indian Premier League. In 14 matches he scored 378 runs at an incredible average of 54 and at an even more impressive strike-rate of 190.
With all that franchise experience in mind, Stubbs has good reason to feel confident.
"I enjoy the number four role. From where I've batted I think it's the hardest position. One to three you sort of play the same way each game and with positions five and six the game is laid out in front of you. With four it's in between that which makes it tricky. Between four and six, I prefer four because I have bit more time in the middle.”
The first T20I against Ireland starts at 5.30pm SA time.