It was an eye-opening experience to play in IPL: Tabraiz Shamsi

South African left-arm unorthodox spin bowler Tabraiz Shamsi noted that it was an exciting and eye-opening experience for him to play in the Indian Premier League. Tabraiz Shamsi represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore between 2016 and 2018 and was brought in as a replacement for West Indies leggie Samuel Badree.

Shamsi revealed that it was great to play in front of large crowds in India and it was also great to share the dressing room with star players like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, etc. He also learned a lot about the different cultures that various players brought from their countries of origin.

"Obviously, it is eye opening, especially for somebody that was an unknown player, I had never played for my country, so I never played in front of big crowds like that. And it depends on the type of person you are, either it is going to make you nervous or either it is going to make you excited and for me, it was really exciting to be there." Tabraiz Shamsi said on 'Cricket Unplugged with Anis Sajan.'.

"When you mingle with players from other countries, they've developed their own ways of winning games and stuff. So, it is nice to pick up knowledge from the other guys and implement them in your own game," he further added.

It was a great learning experience to bowl to MS Dhoni: Tabraiz Shamsi

Tabraiz Shamsi considers MS Dhoni as one of the best finishers in world cricket. The left-arm wrist-spinner stated that it was a great learning curve for him, bowling to Dhoni. Big crowds in the stadium supporting Dhoni only motivated him to perform better against the CSK skipper as a bowler.

"That was really nice for me. Obviously, he is known as probably the best finisher in the game. And, like I said, when you are playing in big grounds, in front of huge crowds, either it can scare you or it could get you excited and for me, it was really exciting that I was able to bowl to one of the best finishers the game has ever seen. I felt that I did decently against him and that gave me extra confidence that if I can bowl to Dhoni, I can bowl to any batsman in the world. And those are the kind of lessons and experiences that can help you moving forward in the future and that's what I decided to use it as," Tabraiz Shamsi said.

The 2020 season of the IPL is set to be staged in the UAE from September 19 across three venues - Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.