'I was batting slightly lower in first-half of the season': 'Dynamic' Moises Henriques raring to go for Punjab Kings

Moises Henriques' wealth of knowledge knows no boundaries in the Indian Premier League. The all-rounder from Australia has turned up for six different IPL franchises – currently representing the Punjab Kings – and yet somehow featured in the XI just thrice this season in IPL 2021. The battle for the four overseas players has always been pretty tight in the IPL, more so for PBKS, who boast Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram and Adil Rashid to name a few.

Playing his first season in four years, scoring 16 runs and picking up one wicket isn't the type of outing that would guarantee an overseas player a place in the XI of an IPL team, not with the kind of competition that there is, and especially when PBKS find themselves in a sticky position – placed fifth on the points-table with four nearly must-win games left – but if Henriques is to be believed, there was a lot more to his performance than what meets the eye.

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"For me it's about basically improving what I can to try and help the team win games. That's what I'll be focusing on and have focused on for the last few months – continuing to try and develop my bowling to be as adaptive as possible. With my batting as well, I'm trying to work on some different things to help improve my power hitting, because I was batting a little bit lower in the first half of the season than what I've probably been used to," Henriques told The Hindustan Times in an exclusive chat.

"I'm trying to adapt to maybe needing to power hit a bit earlier in meetings. When you're back three or four, you can sort of face 10, 15, 20 balls before you need to start power hitting. So as to start pushing and taking higher risks. So definitely been working on trying to push for those risks."

PBKS have been guilty of plenty of chopping and changing this season. In the last two games, they made three changes – two overseas by bringing in Gayle and Nathan Ellis over Rashid and Fabian Allen and replacing Ishan Porel with leg-spinner Adil Rashid. Hence, if you think it's only the foreign players who face the heat, you've got another thing coming, as Henriques rightly pointed out.

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"It's always stiff (competition in the IPL as an overseas player) trying to force your way in. There are so many class players everywhere in the world. They come and play in this tournament. And, it's even the same for the local Indian players now. I think the depth of Indian cricket is fantastic. And there's a lot of really strong Indian domestic players that are missing out on games as well. So, I don't think the problems lie with only international players now. Obviously international cricket has such good depth with how many good players there are but Indian cricket also has great depth and the seven spots of the local players sometimes aren't enough either," he added.

It may be a long shot at the moment but needing to win their remaining matches to qualify for the Playoffs, PBKS could do with having a utility player like Henriques in their line-up. More than his bowling – Henriques has bowled only once in his last 10 matches – the batting is something that could come extremely handy for PBKS. Having said that, it doesn't mean Henriques isn't focussed on his medium pace. That kind of speed is ideal on the pitches of the UAE, and although Henriques hasn't bowled much lately, there is no reason to believe why the IPL 2021 couldn't be the tournament to get him back in groove.

"Batting wise, I definitely batted a little bit lower than what I used to. So that's something I've worked on over the last few months. Trying to learn from those performances and the situation I found myself in, in those games and then bowling again. So, I guess for me that was a nice surprise to get the new ball and then to obviously do well is also a good bonus," the all-rounder said.

PBKS could have made it two in two in the second phase had it not been for a meltdown during the last 10 balls of their chase against Rajasthan Royals. But the win against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday arrived in the nick of time, one that keeps them in the hunt for a Playoff spot. Ahead of them on the rankings are four top-notch units in Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders – three of which they will face next, along with a wounded Mumbai Indians. The term 'looking at one game at a time' is too cliched in cricket, but in the current scenario, they can't afford to look too far ahead.

"I think at this stage of the season, I'm going to say the next team and mainly because we've only six games left, the most important games. So, it is always the next game you play. It's very hard to isolate just one team, but I just feel like the team that you're playing next is the toughest, because there's no doubt that the team's going to be pretty strong. I feel no matter who that is - the team in first place or the team in seventh place. But I kind of feel like that next game is always the most important," Henriques mentioned.

Provided he gets a game, Henriques knows the players to target with both bat and ball. In the first phase, playing against KKR, he was cleaned up by Sunil Narine so he is someone Henriques would like to get even with. Besides Narine, names like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Steve Smith are every bowler's dream.

"I'm going to say probably for me it would be Narine, who got me out in the first half. Not so much the toughest to face, but that will present me with a challenge to try and get even in the second half of the IPL. I've played with and against Sunil before and he's obviously a world class player. So, I'm trying to get my retribution there will be very important to me," said Henriques.

"Bowling wise, someone like AB de Villiers would be nice. Of course, I got him out once before in the IPL and he's hit me for a couple of big sixes as well. So, I think bowling to the best guys like him and Kohli. I'd love to get Steve Smith out as well. He's one of my closest mates, so I'd love to put him in my pocket."