Playing in IPL 2021 will help me prepare for T20 World Cup: Sam Billings 

Sam Billings has explained that his IPL 2021 experience could help him prepare for the T20 World Cup, which will also be played in India.

Delhi Capitals picked up Sam Billings for ₹2 crore at the IPL 2021 Auction. The 29-year-old, who is currently in India as part of England's T20I squad, has been roped in by DC as Rishabh Pant's back up.

Although the Englishman accepted that he may get limited opportunities in IPL 2021, he is keen to utilize the time in India to prepare for the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place later this year.

"You look at the squad that Delhi have, and especially the overseas options: you could go with any combination and it would be a successful one. The competition for places is phenomenal: they obviously got to the final last year, so game time might be limited, but it comes back to the point of preparing for a World Cup and giving myself the best chance in these conditions to prepare for that," he told ESPNcricinfo.

Back to where my @IPL journey began! Can’t wait to join up with the @DelhiCapitals 👍🏼 #YehHaiNayiDilli https://t.co/nQFdsUDqyU

— Sam Billings (@sambillings) February 18, 2021

The Delhi Capitals went in with just two overseas batsmen last year. South African pacers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje used up two slots, with Marcus Stoinis serving as the all-rounder. Shimron Hetmyer filled the last overseas spot, with Alex Carey getting a few chances as well.

With Rishabh Pant being a vital member of the DC team, Sam Billings is not expected to receive many chances in IPL 2021. He will have to compete with Shimron Hetmyer and fellow new signing Steve Smith for a place in the Delhi Capitals starting line-up.

Sam Billings eager to face Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel in nets

.@SamBillings just happened to be wearing blue when we picked him up at the #IPLAuction2021 💙Coincidence? We think not 😉So glad to have you back 🤗#YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/1iv7yj01Gz

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) February 18, 2021

A strong feature of Sam Billings' batting has been his ability to play spin well. During his time with the Chennai Super Kings, Billings didn't look out of place while negotiating the turning tracks in Chepauk. His dot ball percentage of 26.7% in the middle overs is the lowest among any T20 batsman since 2016.

During the recently-concluded Test series, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel flummoxed the English batsmen, with the visitors ultimately losing 3-1.

Sam Billings admitted that the prospect of facing Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin in the nets could improve his England prospects in the build-up to the T20 World Cup.

"Facing those two spinners in the nets is one of the great things about the IPL and other franchise competitions. [If] you face these guys day in, day out in testing conditions, you're going to get better - it's impossible not to. That's a huge plus point. I'll be writing a few notes about a few different cricketers that I see about,” Billings added.

Sam Billings has been a part of the IPL for four seasons, but he has played just 22 times in the competition, scoring 334 runs at a strike rate of 133.60.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐 has landed in India 🇮🇳@sambillings 🏏 #SuperKent pic.twitter.com/mVzNElp5m8

— Kent Cricket (@KentCricket) March 9, 2021