JP Duminy, in an exclusive chat with espnstar.com, said the IPL would help his team ahead of the ICC World Twenty20.

By Firdose Moonda

With Duminy's IPL campaign over, he has eye on his next task: the ICC World Twenty20. "The IPL has given me and some of the other South Africans really good preparation for the ICC World T20. Look at guys like AB de Villiers (who has scored 439 runs at an average of 54.87 and also scored the first hundred of the competition) and Jacques Kallis. They've performed really well and got themselves into good form ahead of the event."

Duminy said he thinks the South African side is well placed to challenge for the title at the T20 Championship. "We have a well balanced side and after our good run in our matches against Australia, I think we could definitely be up there." He is wary of reigning champions, India, who he thinks will be the team to beat. "I think they have the exuberance of youth in their favour. Having said that I also think they have enough experienced guys to guide the team. For example, Zaheer Khan could make a big impact. He was really good for us (the Mumbai Indians), and it was such a pity that he got injured, because he is the type of bowler you really need."

With the competition being held in England, Duminy is also wary of the local lads. "If Flintoff and Pietersen are fit they will be the danger men for England. It's a pity they didn't really hit good form during the IPL."

Is the secret to T20 success staying in the twenty-over mode and does that perhaps account for the great English failure at this year's IPL? "It's hard to say - they could have just gone through a bad patch form-wise. But I wouldn't say there would have been anything wrong with them staying longer at the IPL."

Duminy was at the forefront of the Proteas back-to-back one-day series triumphs against the arch rivals and earned himself a lucrative (US$ 950 000) contract with the Mumbai Indians.

"I guess I was under a bit of pressure because of my price tag," he told ESPNstar.com. Despite the expectation, Duminy also said he did not have much preparation before the IPL. "I came straight off the Australian series into the IPL. In fact, we played against Australia on the Friday night (17 April), and on the Saturday (18 April) I was playing my first IPL match. Even through the competition, the matches are all so close together that there isn't really time for long practices." His so-called lack of preparation didn't stop him from vindicating his hefty fee. At the end of the round robin stage, Duminy was the fifth highest run scorer overall, with 372 runs at an average of 41.33, including five half centuries.

Although Duminy performed admirably, the Indians had a disappointing tournament, finishing second from the bottom of the table. Duminy said a few close encounters, such as their 3 runs loss to the Kings XI Punjab and their 2 run defeat at the hands of the Rajasthan Royals is what cost them. "I can't really pinpoint any area as an area we didn't perform in, there were just a few close games we were involved in and we ended up on the losing side. We were unlucky."

The flop of his franchise didn't stop Duminy from savouring the experience of being in the same change-room as some of the game's greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya. "The big thing for me was getting to know them off the field and see what kind of people they are, not just what kind of cricketers they are. I was very interested in how they conduct themselves and especially how humble and down to earth they have remained." It wasn't just big characters, but the enormity of the event as a whole which Duminy lapped up. "Even though we didn't have a Bollywood representative, we are owned by one of the richest families in the world (the Ambani's) and to get to know them and see how people remain so modest despite success was a really an eye opener."