Former Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla showered praise on Ryan Rickelton after Mumbai Indians registered a comprehensive six-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday. 

Rickelton scored a match-winning knock of 81 runs off just 43 balls with the help of four fours and eight sixes in the run-chase of 221. The former MI spinner said it was not surprising to see Rickelton playing ahead of his compatriot Quinton de Kock.

Chawla said Ryan has been playing consistently across all formats whereas Quinton de Kock recently came back from retirement.

Piyush Chawla said on ESPN Cricinfo, “There was no surprise when he was picked in the playing XI ahead of Quinton de Kock. De Kock has not played that much cricket lately. He is coming back from retirement. On the other hand, Ryan Rickelton is playing all the formats. When you play so much cricket, the more number of balls you face, you feel more confident. He had a decent World Cup.

“The way he played today [Sunday], he was just playing on the merit of the ball. The shot he played against [Sunil] Narine, off a good delivery, over midwicket, says a lot about his confidence as a batter,” the 37-year-old went on to add.

The southpaw recently scored 228 runs in eight matches of the T20 World Cup for the Proteas.

On the other hand, former CSK batter Ambati Rayudu said Rickelton is picking the length of the spinners early, which is his improved area in batting.

He said, “He is picking the length of the spinners really well. That’s one area he has really improved. We have seen that in his batting today, against both fast bowlers and spinners, whenever it is full, he has gone for it. Whenever it is short, he is quick to go back. That shows that he has worked on his batting. At the moment, he is definitely looking a step above De Kock.”

Mumbai Indians will next take on Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, on Saturday.