Pressure in IPL is intense with people tweeting you are not worth it, says Tymal Mills

The 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw an unprecedented number of English players taking the center stage. Prior to the commencement of the tournament, Tymal Mills and Ben Stokes had made the headlines for being the most expensive players at the auctions. Needless to say, they had all the eyes glued to them when they walked out to play in the season.

Ben Stokes justified every bit of money invested in him and returned with the accolade of Most Valuable Player of the season. Tymal Mills, on the other hand, had an ordinary outing which was marred by injuries. Recently, Mills and Sam Billings had a discussion with Rob Key about their experience at the IPL. As per the quotes in the Sky Sports, Billings pointed out that the pressure of playing in IPL is similar to that of Sam Billings.

“I think it’s the closest thing to international cricket, the pressure is similar. The pressure of playing in England, for England, is a different pressure because it feels more personal, I suppose. Whereas in the IPL, you’re going over there, you’re an overseas player and it’s just a different kind of pressure,” quoted Sam Billings.

“But I think for both Tymal (Mills) and I, who haven’t played that much international cricket – to learn our games in competitions like the IPL when we’re not dead certs for the England team, I think it’s only going to help us as players,” he added further.

Different pressure altogether

Tymal Mills cited that the pressure is slightly different when playing in the IPL. He explained that when one plays poorly in the English colors, only the countrymen condemn them. However, in the case of the IPL, there are so many critics ready to take a toll when somebody performs poorly. He also added that with the kind of price tag he carried this season, he ended up getting tweets from people telling him he did not deserve the amount.

“It’s different. When you’re playing for England you’re getting criticized by Englishmen, watching England, wanting England to win, whereas when you’re at the IPL, you’re an overseas player. It’s not your own people going against you when you have a bad game. You definitely don’t take it as personally when you’re out there, playing in the IPL,” quoted Tymal Mills.

“It’s intense and going for the price tag I went for (£1.4m), you always get people tweeting you saying you aren’t worth it and things like that! That’s just how it goes,” Mills added further.