HYDERABAD: For all the venom he spews with the ball, Alzarri Joseph is quite the opposite when he’s handed the microphone. “You come across as shy. You’re a quiet man who goes on with his job,” remarked Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma during an impromptu interview on Saturday night, after they’d blown away Sunrisers Hyderabad in their own den.
Among the reticent answers the skipper was getting from his pacer after a good amount of verbal prodding, there was one reply that showed the stark contrast between Joseph the bowler and Joseph the human being. “I celebrate wins, not wickets.” This coming from a 22-year-old who’d taken just 22 balls to erase the best bowling figures in IPL history previously held by Rajasthan’s Sohail Tanvir.
When he was in the process of obliterating Hyderabad with his 140kph-plus missiles, Joseph hardly celebrated any of his six wickets. Even at the post-match press conference, he dubbed Siddarth Kaul’s dismissal as his favourite. “The last one gave us the win. My aim is to do my best to win games for my team. I don’t really concentrate on personal performances, but put in all of my efforts for my team,” he said after the match.
Words from a player who belongs to a nation that loves flamboyance, especially when its IPL. Heck, Andre Russell — he wasn’t wrong, but still — had called himself “special” just 72-odd hours ago.
It isn’t as if Joseph is new to the spotlight. After ending the 2016 U-19 World Cup as both the joint-highest wicket-taker and the fastest bowler, the Antiguan had been singled out as the next big thing in West Indies cricket by Curtly Ambrose, Andy Roberts, and Ian Bishop.
Fast-tracked into the national side next year, the speedster began his Test tally with the wicket of Virat Kohli when India toured West Indies. Having been laid low by a stress fracture in his back, it was only in February that Joseph was back in the headlines.
Playing his first Test at his home ground — in North Sound against England — he had just learnt that his mother had died after a prolonged illness. He was seen at the pre-match team huddle, teary eyed. Yet, he came out to bat and scored seven, and then took the wickets of Joe Denly and Joe Root in a fiery seven-over spell to set his team on course for a memorable victory. “It took a lot of heart for him to be on the field today. I think a lot of people wouldn’t have been able to,” was what he made West Indies skipper Jason Holder say after.
It was in 2011 that a West Indian came into an IPL team as a last-minute replacement for an injured player. Eight years later, he is called the Universe Boss. In just one match, Joseph seems to be heading down that same path.