New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) Lockie Ferguson is still finding his rhythm in IPL 2026 after having no gradual build‑up. The New Zealand pacer took a deliberate pause before making a late entry into a tournament already in full swing and being a competition dominated by batters.

Ferguson chose to stay home at the start of the season to be with his wife and newborn son. With quality family time spent, he came back to India and began turning out for table-toppers PBKS from their clash against Rajasthan Royals.

In a virtual roundtable chat facilitated by the franchise ahead of their clash against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, Ferguson reflected on finding rhythm as a pacer coming mid-way into the competition, Kyle Jamieson’s celebrations on dismissing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, IPL 2026 being heavily tilted towards batters and more. Excerpts:

Q. How different is it coming into an IPL season midway and finding rhythm and how being a father has changed his perspective?

A. Obviously, there’s an opportunity cost to anything. I chose to have some time at home with my family, my newborn. I can’t thank Punjab Kings enough for allowing me to do that. It’s obviously a hard decision from a cricket point of view to take time out to spend it at home.

But something obviously I was very willing to do and Punjab has been amazing in supporting that. So, again, it just showcases what a great franchise and how lucky I am to be part of the franchise. Obviously not that easy coming from training at home straight into IPL.

It’s a tough competition at the best of times. But, this is the challenge we face. It’s never easy coming into a tournament halfway. But, look, the team’s been going so well. So being a Punjab fan at home has been epic. Hopefully we can bounce back and get on the board again tomorrow.

The conversation with the ownership – Ricky (Ponting), the boss, the CEO – was really positive. It was about retention, and I was pretty open that I was missing a big chunk of the first few weeks of my son’s life because I was going to be at the World Cup.

I just missed the birth just ever so slightly, but I had four days with them, which was great. Then I had to fly back to the World Cup. Sometimes these are the challenges we have as cricketers. I’m obviously in a very privileged position to play cricket as a job, but it does have some challenges.

From my point of view and with my family, it was a priority. I had a very honest conversation with the group and said, ‘I’m keen to come back. However, I’m only available for the second half.’ They were happy with that and also super supportive. We share very similar cultures in that way – family comes first and I’m very appreciative of that.

Q. Yesterday Jameson was reprimanded for his celebration after taking Sooryavanshi’s wicket. Is this something that you think is going against the bowlers because you see fielders and batters going unnoticed time and time again for their celebrations?

A. Kyle’s a good mate of mine. He got pretty fired up, which is pretty understandable. Not easy to get wickets in this part of the world and that was a big one. So I think it’s part of the game. I think celebration – fans like to see the passion. So I can’t comment on anything from a governing body point of view.

But as a player, I think the passion coming out is great for the game. As a fan of the game, you like to see players getting passionate, players showing emotion and being excited to take a wicket.

Obviously there are times maybe where it steps over the mark, but for the game of cricket, it shows how much players love playing here, love competing. Then when they have success, you can see the emotion coming out. He’s obviously a big guy too. So when a big guy has a lot of emotions, it looks even bigger.

Q. How do you mentally reset yourself after a good delivery is being hit for a boundary?

A. It is hard. IPL is just sort of a new competition on its own in the style of cricket that’s played here. It’s obviously high-scoring. So, you’re going to get hit for boundaries. That’s part of being a bowler. As you just alluded to, it’s how do you bounce back the next ball and try to execute again – sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn’t.

But as long as you kind of go with that positive mindset, try to execute as best as possible, try to bowl within your game plan and follow from the scouting reports that we have, you put yourself in the best position. We’ve seen through the comp there’s been high scoring, but wickets is the way to sort of stem that flow of runs.

So, I think as long as the bowlers are being aggressive, trying to find ways to get batters out whilst also strict runs, then they’re going to be in a good mindset. But as I said earlier, we’ve got such an experienced group around us from the coaching staff, support staff, but also the players on the park. So, you’ve got to take the good with the bad at times and roll with the punches and sometimes it will work out and sometimes it won’t.

Q. Is there a particular role you have been assigned by Ricky? Have there been any conversations between you and him in terms of that role?

A. I think it’s a similar role to what I play in most teams. That’s what you kind of get selected for, I guess, is the role that I do for the New Zealand side. Obviously, it changes at times. Sometimes I bowl up front in the power play, but mostly closing off power plays and then bowling through the middle and then at the death.

But with the way the world cricket is as a bowler, you’ve got to be ready to kind of bowl at any stage. So, it’s great working with Ricky. He really fills you with a lot of confidence. Obviously, if Ricky’s telling you you’re doing something right, it comes with a lot of weight because of how great a cricketer he is.

But as a coach as well, he’s been incredible. You can see the passion that he has for the game. He’s just forever trying to find ways to get better and talk to you and have conversations to try to make myself better, which is awesome. I’m very fortunate to play underneath him in a few franchises and really enjoy it. So, again, great to be back here with the Punjab group. It’s been nice to sort of slot back in with a team that’s in a good space.

Q. So would you say that the IPL is unfairly tilted towards batters nowadays and what are your thoughts on Impact Player rule?

A. Look, it’s just the game and tournament. Coming to the IPL that’s going to be high scoring, it’s been mostly like that the whole time I’ve been playing here relative to the other tournaments. The curators do fantastic jobs at these grounds and the wickets are amazing. The training facilities we get are incredible.

Then the talent coming out of India is remarkable. I think every year there seems to be new young players coming through who can play all the shots and have a huge amount of confidence. So I think from an Indian point of view, it’s amazing to see that talent coming through the ranks and performing on the big stage.

As a bowler, we just adjust our mindset around it. If it’s going for 200, you’re trying to go for less than ten runs an over. You just try to adjust as much as you can. As we spoke about earlier, if they hit you off your good ball, you’ve got to quickly review whether it was a good, bad or a mis-executed ball and try to bounce back in the next ball and bowl a good one. But the IPL is an incredible tournament. Things change very quickly.

Momentum is such a big thing within the game here. So trying to get your team on the right side of the momentum and ride – that is the key. The Punjab team has been doing that very well. It’s been awesome watching from home and seeing them have some success.

But the impact rule, again, it’s just a different style of cricket. I don’t think there’s any right or wrong way to do it. From my point of view, you just turn up and play the rules that there are. Obviously, as you play tournaments around the world, they change for various reasons.

It’s just trying to adapt, I guess, as quickly as possible to what you’re playing and what you’re playing in front of you and try to have some impact on the game to try to win the game because regardless of the score, at the end of the day, you’re just trying to get two points. So however you do that and however that might look is different. But regardless of the fact, we’re just trying to win games at cricket.

–IANS

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