Legendary South African allrounder Jacques Kallis' arrival is set to pay dividends for the Sydney Thunder both on and off the field in the Big Bash League.
Cellar dwellers for the first three seasons, the Thunder have new-found confidence, with Kallis sparking them to a dominant opening victory over Brisbane Heat with a brutal unbeaten 97, combining with fellow great Mike Hussey (96).
Talented young paceman Gurinder Sandhu was the pick of the bowlers and the 21-year-old believed there was plenty Thunder teammates could glean from Kallis' vast experience as a batsman and bowler of world class.
"Say if I'm a bowler and I've bowled four dot balls and they've been similar each time, I'd want to know what he'd be thinking as a batsman and then what he'd be thinking as a bowler," Sandhu told AAP.
"What ball would he bowl next? How would he set his field? How does he work a batsman out?
"That's what I really want to know."
The Thunder's flying start and the Sydney Sixers' win over Hobart Hurricanes on Tuesday night have set the scene for a blockbuster Sydney derby between the two sides on Saturday night at ANZ Stadium.
The Thunder have never beaten the Sixers and, while many of the players are teammates for NSW, Sandhu believes there will be no shortage of fire in the middle.
"There's not hatred, but there'll be a bit of friendly banter, a few sly words here and there just to get the game going," he said.
"They've got a lot of good players so we're going to have a few plans for them, put them in place and hopefully execute well".
The form of Kallis and Hussey with the bat and the likes of Sandhu and speedster Pat Cummins with the ball have raised excited speculation about the Thunder contending for the title this season but they're being careful not to buy into it.
"I think any team's goal is to get the trophy at the end of the year, so that's been our goal so far, so that won't really change," Sandhu told AAP.
"If we win (against the Sixers), then it's two out of two. We've still got another five or six games to go after that, so we've just got to put a good performance on the board.
"Confidence is high without being too high. We know we've got to go through the processes during training".
Share
