From anonymity to figuring in South Africa’s T20 World Cup plans, Tristan Stubbs’ rollercoaster journey

From young to experienced, many are set to play their first T20 World Cup when action gets underway Down Under. Before the first ball is bowled, Firstpost.com brings to you FirstCup - a special series where we chart journeys of T20 World Cup debutants.

Tristan Stubbs’ stocks have been on a continuous rise ever since he got included in the Mumbai Indians setup as a replacement player earlier this year on the back of a successful domestic season. Less than half a year later, Stubbs finds himself on the verge of making his maiden appearance in an ICC event for South Africa.

Fair to say that 2022 has been an absolute gamechanger in the life of the 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, who has experienced a meteoric rise in the sport that few happened to be blessed with. And once the mega event is underway in Australia later this month, Stubbs will hope to let the bat do the talking as he eyes cementing his place in the team and taking his career to another level in the showpiece T20I event.

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Setting domestic T20s on fire

Stubbs made his First-Class debut for Eastern Province towards the end of his teenage years in the 2019-20 season and would make his one-day and T20 debuts soon after. He showed promise as a red-ball player, averaging 46.50 in his eight First-Class appearances with two centuries to his credit.

However, it was his exploits in limited-overs cricket, especially in the shortest format, that caught the attention of the cricketing community across the Rainbow Nation as well as in other parts of the globe. Stubbs emerged the second-highest run-scorer in the 2021-22 CSA T20 Challenge, collecting 293 runs for the Warriors at a superb strike rate and average of 183.12 and 48.83 respectively.

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“He is the most dynamic young middle-order player in South Africa. No one is more dynamic than he is in terms of his skills, and that which he offers you. He does impossible things,” Warriors coach and former Proteas left-arm spinner Robin Peterson said after witnessing a breath taking 80 not out off just 31 deliveries off Stubbs’ bat, which contained eight sixes.

And it wasn’t just Peterson who was forced to sit up and take notice of the promising young batter after a splendid season; by now the team scouts across various T20 leagues, the IPL included, would’ve already begun making plans for including him in their roster.

The IPL callup

Fortunately for Stubbs, he maintained his sparkling form during South Africa’s limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe shortly before Mumbai Indians all-rounder Tymal Mills’ injury-forced exit from the 15th season of the IPL.

Though he didn’t get too many opportunities after being officially included as the Englishman’s replacement for a sum of Rs 20 lakh, collecting just two runs in as many appearances, it did help bring Stubbs into the cricketing mainstream from the confines of the domestic system back home.

Getting a cricket-mad nation of more than a billion people buzzing after appearing in one of the most-watched sporting leagues in the world surely is one way of announcing oneself to the world.

It wouldn’t take long for Cricket South Africa to incorporate him into their T20I setup, giving him a maiden call-up for the tour of India that took place right after the IPL. Stubbs would later hilariously reveal being half asleep at the time of getting the call from the board.

“I was very excited. I had actually just woken up, so I was super excited when I heard. Victor (Mpitsang) phoned me. He must think I was literally half-asleep. So I got a bit of a fright when I realised it was him,” Stubbs was quoted as saying according to SA CricketMag.

An memorable auction and World Cup hopes

Stubbs never looked back from thereon; while he didn’t get to bat in his only appearance in the India series, he was more than handy in his 28-ball 72 against England in his maiden international innings, a knock that gave the Proteas a semblance of hope from a near-hopeless position.

His strike-rate in the three-match series, the highest among all batters (215.90), perhaps played a part in the Manchester Originals bringing him on board in place of Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga in The Hundred later that summer.

But his most memorable moment in his nascent cricketing career would perhaps be dominating headlines in the inaugural player auction of the upcoming SA T20 league, where he was part of an intense bidding war between several franchises before becoming the most expensive buy of the auction after going to Sunrisers Eastern Cape for a sum of 9.2 million rand ($540,000).

“I am still shaking,” Stubbs said, reacting to the riches that were bring splurged by the franchises to secure his services.

There were few things that can top that feeling though and being selected to represent one’s nation in a World Cup certainly is one of them.

“Someone like Tristan Stubbs who was not in the frame a year ago has done incredibly well to force his way into the mix based on his performances and his selection should be an inspiration for every young player out there,” CSA convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang had said after including him in the 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup that begins in a less than a couple of weeks Down Under.

From not being anywhere in the radar of the national team about a year ago to suddenly becoming one of the most discussed cricketers in the build-up to a global event, it certainly has been a dreamlike journey so far for young Stubbs. All that’s left is for him to make the most of the opportunities in the next one month and make his spot in the Proteas XI a permanent one.

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