MILLS AND BOOM
£1m flop in India, England star Tymal bites back: I’m ready for IPL again... and I’ll show everyone what I can do
TYMAL MILLS has spent much of his career fighting fires.
Whether it be battling injury or his doubters , his presence here with England’s T20 squad is evidence of victory over both.
But the fast bowler admits the challenges ahead in 2022 could be his biggest yet, namely booking his spot at the World T20 in Australia and showing the Indian Premier League he was no big money flop.
Mills became an overnight millionaire in 2017 when he was picked from the auction by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4million only for injury to cut short his tournament after just five matches.
Since then he has succeeded in franchise T20 cricket all over the world but has not once put himself back in the IPL auction until this year.
If Mills is picked up when the horse-trading starts on February 12-13, it may not be for the sort of money that made him the second-highest paid overseas player behind only Ben Stokes.
But on a personal level it will present a belated opportunity to show India and the world what he failed to last time.
“I’ve submitted all my paperwork last week so it’s fingers crossed,” he said.
“I haven’t been to the IPL since I was first picked five years ago which is a long time.
“It obviously didn’t go as well as I’d have liked. I got injured during the tournament so I’m very keen to get back and right some wrongs there and give a better account of myself.”
Mills, 29, was a late bolter into Eoin Morgan’s World Cup squad last October after four-and-ahalf years in the international wilderness, playing four matches before a quad injury struck. Since then he has played in T10 in late November in Abu Dhabi and the Big Bash for Perth Scorchers where he took 12 wickets in seven matches. Searing pace used to be Mills’ stock-intrade even if it probably led to more injuries but as he has matured he has become a potent death bowler with well-disguised slower balls a weapon-ofchoice. With Jofra Archer and Mark Wood still sidelined, Mills (in IPL action, above) has another opportunity in this series to show Morgan that he needs him on the plane later this year.
“I feel good. I thought I bowled well in the Big Bash,” he said. “I got seven good games in. You never know how T20 is going to go. It’s a volatile game.”
Mills has turned down an opening in the Pakistan Super League in an effort to give his body time to recover.
He said: “When you’re bowling well the temptation is to cash-in and keep playing. But after this I will be going home and spending time with my family.”