Corey Anderson eyeing long-awaited comeback at Dharamsala

Corey Anderson is perhaps one of the most excited blokes in the New Zealand squad at the moment. Not because he missed a major part of the ongoing tour, but because he is back from a terrible ankle injury he sustained shortly after the World T20 earlier this year. Speaking about it, he said that he would ideally not like to sit out of the side again.

“It’s been reasonably tough second time around,” Anderson said on Friday (October 14). “It’s one of those things… you have a decent chunk out [with injury] and you don’t really want to sit out again.

“But I had to do it. It’s part of the game, you have injuries. Doing that I guess gives you time to reflect on things and see where you can get better and that kind of thing. I’ve been working to get my fitness and strength up and not have a date in mind. It’s basically when I’m ready, I’m ready kind of thing.

When asked about his role in the side, Corey Anderson said, “At the moment I am just batting. I will work on my bowling in the background,” Anderson said. “I think that’s one of those things… [where] there is no time frame. More just letting it, I guess, take its time and when it’s ready it’s ready. It is pointless pushing myself with such a big summer in front of us. I know it’s India, I’d love to be doing everything. I don’t know if there is enough time on this tour potentially, but it’s just one of those things that I am focusing on my batting. That will be my main job.”

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“Look, I think it still works, you know. You still need that sort of a middle-order batsman who can try and control the middle of the innings and wait for the so-called party in the end. We have got a lot of guys in the team who can do a lot of things, which is great – some of the guys in the top order can also bowl. I think it just helps with Kane [Williamson] having to mix up bowlers and change them up. The dynamic is what it is.”

Corey Anderson, who is also a part of the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians also added that playing in familiar conditions in India would help some of the New Zealand players.

“We are just excited to be back in what is a reasonably familiar place after the T20 World Cup. It’s quiet like New Zealand conditions with the weather. All the guys were putting on a few jerseys this morning and things like that. I know the Test boys are obviously enjoying that after some hot days in the part. It’s a nice way to start.

“This is a completely new series and format. We have been a pretty successful one-day side in the last couple of years. I guess we are going to just try and keep that going. Every game is important in the series and we want to make sure we hit the ground running and put up a good fight. There’re a couple of new faces in the team obviously so trying to hit the straps again. We have a pretty good memory of beating Australia here so if we do something similar day after, it’ll be great.”

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