'I recently played in the Caribbean league in West Indies. I did well there. There were a few international stars. I don’t get that far with IPL. IPL have good spinners. If I play IPL I will be happy.'
South Africa ‘A’ cricket team's leg-spinner Eddie Leie says he is ready to "pay money" to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
"I haven't played in IPL. I haven't been selected. All I know is, I will pay money to play in the IPL. I watch a lot of IPL," Leie said.
"I recently played in the Caribbean league in West Indies. I did well there. There were a few international stars. I don’t get that far with IPL. IPL have good spinners. If I play IPL I will be happy, but for me it's about bowling against India ‘A’. IPL is not my mind at the moment. You perform and everything will take care of itself," the 28-year-old said on the eve of their match against the hosts.
Leie said he had watched videos of Shane Warne and Anil Kumble to learn the tricks of the trade.
"The guys in India have rich culture of spinners. In South Africa we do have spin camps. Guys like Nicky Boje and Henderson who are helping us but he is an off-spinner. For me, I rely more on the videos being a leg-spinner. I watched Danish Kaneria, Shane Warne, and Anil Kumble is my favourite. Watched Mushtaq Ahmed back in the days. I try to learn a lot watching their videos. My action might look similar to most."
Asked about his follow through, Leie said, "When you play cricket back home. You just run up and bowl. I try to bowl and that's what happens. Guys like Shane Warne they get momentum on the crease. My momentum comes from running in and going at the crease. It's something that I do naturally."
On his attitude as a leg-spinner, he said, "I try to bowl and hit the line and lengths. I try to contain most times. But I invariably end up getting wickets. For me, that comes from the almighty."
As far as prospects of making the senior team is concerned, he said, "My focus for now will be on how I bowl to Sanju Samson and the Indian openers. That's on my mind. Sanju and the rest batsmen have played in IPL. I'm not even the best spinner in the country. You have got Imran Tahir, great spinner. Aaron Phangison, Robin Peterson. I don't think I'm in line for selection."
Image: South African leg-spinner Eddie Leie
Photograph: Getty Images