Mumbai Indians Cape Town opener Ryan Rickelton has found a purple patch in the shortest format of the game.
The Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg is about 14,800 kilometres away from the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. But the celebrations after playing a wonderful knock at both the venues can be the same. Ryan Rickelton registered his second SA20 century in the match against Joburg Super Kings (JSK), and his celebration had every resemblance to what KL Rahul did at the Chinnaswamy last year.
The knock meant a lot emotionally for Ryan Rickelton as the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter was dropped from the squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. With his unbeaten 113* against JSK, the Mumbai Indians Cape Town (MICT) won their second game in a row.
To give that celebration some context, the Wanderers is Rickelton’s home ground – similar to KL Rahul’s home ground being Chinnaswamy, where he brought out the celebration. The celebration had a lot of similarities to the one brought out by the Delhi Capitals star.
Upon reaching his century, Ryan Rickelton just slammed his bat into the Wanderers turf, showed respect to the MICT badge and raised both his arms. However, after the knock was complete, the MICT opener revealed that the celebration was not instinctive, and was planned in advance.
“I was actually thinking about celebrations recently. I saw KL Rahul do it in the IPL, probably when he was in between teams and just letting everyone know that he’s there. I don’t know why that was at the top of my mind, but it just came out the way it did”, said Rickelton after his knock.
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If he continues to play the same way he is, Ryan Rickelton could make it to any squad he wishes to. With the window still permitting, the left-handed opener can surely enter the scheme of things for getting on the flight to the subcontinent.
With 317 runs in six innings, Rickelton is the highest run-scorer in the tournament with two hundreds to his name already. South Africa would love to have him in the squad, considering the way he is going about his stuff. However, one important point to consider would be the player who makes way for him.
On first thoughts, Tony de Zorzi looks to be the player who would have to make way for the left-handed destructive opener. De Zorzi has a T20 strike-rate of a mere 119.26 as compared to Rickelton’s 144.08, which will be a deciding factor. But with Rickelton being an opener, one of the top three might have to play at three if he is considered for the role.
“I’m here to play my cricket, here to win games for this team, and after this I’ll fall back with the Lions. I’m there to go win the four-day competition for the Lions. I’m pretty chilled with it”, said the MICT wicketkeeper-batter upon being asked about his non-selection in the T20 World Cup 2026 squad.
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