Avesh Khan: Sleep, Eat, Bowl - The Mantra for Success

Consume, rest. bowl and carry on. As seen by his efforts during pivotal games for the Rajasthan Royals in this year's IPL, Avesh Khan has made success seem simple.

With an economy rate of 9.81 and 16 wickets from 15 matches—most of which were played on flat decks—he is a different bowler this time around thanks to his control at the end of the game.

"I have made cricket simple for myself. I just need to sleep, eat, and bowl well. That's it," Avesh said after helping the Rajasthan Royals advance to the second round of the IPL on Wednesday with three wickets.

"Cricket is like a circle; the smaller you keep it, the better," the more you would consider. There will be (more and more) gaps as you widen this circle," he continued.

"This has changed my life too and also impacted my cricket,"he remarked.

The 27-year-old, who will be one of India's reserve players for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA next month, said on Wednesday that he was able to become a better version of himself by evaluating his strengths and shortcomings following a demanding domestic season and the IPL the previous year.

"I bowled roughly 320 overs in ten Ranji Trophy matches while I was a player for LSG last year. Despite my best attempts, the body was not responding," he stated.

He also needs to understand that excessive playing can lead to deterioration.

As a bowler, there are instances when you simply wind up playing a lot. Even though you may believe that each IPL game is just four or twenty overs, a lot of work goes into it. Both physical and emotional exhaustion set in, and the body begins to give up," he continued.

"You might not execute well, but if you are physically and mentally rested, you will perform better. I didn't have a good IPL season last year since I wasn't well. Later on, I (also) realized that carrying so much tension is not beneficial," he continued.

Avesh stated that he has benefited greatly from starting anew, working with his coach to improve his bowling action, and establishing the proper training and recuperation schedules.

"I didn't know the answers at the time, but I realized there had been some mechanical adjustments to my bowling following the Indian Premier League last year. I performed well working with my coach, Anand Rajan," he stated.

"I played in the Deodhar Trophy and Duleep Trophy which was followed by my comeback into the Indian team." Avesh claimed that switching from LSG to the Rajasthan Royals has benefited him specifically as a bowler.

"I understood my body and when the trade was made this year, I was also happy because anything can happen to you at any time in IPL," Avesh stated.

"Although I had no control over the deal, I saw it favorably, since Rajasthan's (home) field is large and has a strong team. You need such margins as a bowler," he remarked.

Although Avesh acknowledged that many approaches benefit in the development of mental toughness in players, he asserted that continuous grind time is the best instructor.

"When asked how he builds mental toughness, I don't have much time to think because I only get up at 2:00 pm on match days," Avesh said.

"You can try your hardest to develop mental toughness, but you won't be able to overcome obstacles unless you've encountered them frequently. I understand all of it, but as a batter, you ignore everything and concentrate on execution when you need 10–12 runs in an over," he continued.

The pacer conceded that there was tension in the RR dugout following a close loss to RCB in this Eliminator, but he suggested that the team might have recalled head coach Kumar Sangakkara's pregame speech.

"The conversation was straightforward: we would either succeed or return home. We have to put everything into it, he stated.

"Up until the very final (league stage) game, we were in the top two, and we came in third. "There shouldn't be any regrets, whether we win or lose," (Kumar) Sangakkara stated," Avesh continued.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.