I have a serious bout of cabin fever: Albie Morkel

You played for three IPL teams – CSK from 2008 to 2013, RCB in 2014 and DD this year. Which one did you enjoy the most?
It is difficult to really answer that straight for just the time frames I have had. I spent six years at Chennai. It's easy to say that will be the best as we won two IPL titles and a Champions League, and for six years, we had the same players. I enjoyed Delhi Daredevils this year immensely. What they have created in one season is definitely something that looks very good for the future. Anyone who walks into an environment like this is going to enjoy a lot and hopefully, Delhi can be a force to reckon with in future.

How did each IPL franchise help you in your game?
Working with different coaches and different overseas players, I don't think the coaches got too technical. You mix with and share ideas with the local players or international players, you watch them how they train and ask them questions. That's not related to any team. It is just the players you play with. When I started as a young player, that's where you get your most value because you can rub shoulders with the best international players everyday and if you don't ask questions about how they do stuff, then you are missing out.

After playing an almost match-winning knock in the first game this IPL (73*), you had to wait for nearly a month to play your next game. How did you keep yourself motivated?
I was lucky to play that first game. The only reason I could play was that Angelo (Mathews) could not travel to Chennai. But in saying that, when you start off a tournament like that, you obviously will have a feel-good factor, you feel confident. The few training sessions after that, I felt really on top of my game. In anyone's book, if you sit in the sidelines for a month, yes, the motivation is still there but you lose that match sharpness. That was actually the first time I have experienced like that because I have been playing most of the IPL games. That is very challenging mentally. You can train as much as you want in the nets. The real challenge and the real way you get tested is out in the middle and match time. So, I felt the first game back after the wait, I really felt I was short of match practice even though I put a lot of effort in training. One of the bad things is it will take you two or three games to get up to speed your game. It was challenging.

How tough can IPL become? Say for instance the world's premier bowler Dale Steyn was not an automatic choice in the XI for his franchise team, a big-hitting all-rounder like you not finding a place in the next match after scoring an unbeaten 73...
It does (get tough). It is called the Indian Premier League for no other reason. It is still an Indian domestic competition. The international players supplement the teams. If your combination is such that you can only play X, Y or Z, you have to accept it. It gets challenging, especially off the field. There is not much movement, just stay at the hotels, so it gets a bit long. There is a word called 'cabin fever'. That's where you stay in your room for six weeks, you don't really get out. I certainly have a serious bout of 'cabin fever'.

You are known to clear the longest part of the boundary with ease. We see AB de Villiers do it with alarming regularity. From where do you guys get power to hit so long? Or has it also got to do with the types of bats available?
Bats these days are fantastic. But players have also worked hard on their game. It is not completely the bats. The equipments have definitely got better than the last few years. The technology used in the bats – you use big pieces of wood and the bat is still light. It is definitely a talent to hit big sixes. It is like bowling 145km an hour. It is a talent you are born with. So is hitting far, I believe. That's the stuff that you train for. In my training schedules, I have a session where I only try to hit sixes. I know on my mind when I walk out to bat the next day, even if I hit it, 75 per cent of it will go for a boundary. You have to mentally know that you can take any boundary. Obviously, your ball-striking ability is also important. That is where practice comes in. You try to hit sixes in sessions. It is all you do before the whole session and in the game make sure that when the ball is in the right area that you hit for a six.

Having played in the same team as AB de Villiers in South African domestic cricket, can you throw insights into his batting style, how he has been able to dominate the bowling like he is doing?
I have played with him when he started. He was 19 or 20 when he started with the Titans. When you look at certain players for the first time, you can judge whether he is a good player or if he has got something special. AB was in that category. First day when he walked in as a young lad, he smacked all the senior guys around. Another good thing about him is no arrogance about him. They still keep their feet on the ground. AB is always going to be a fantastic batsman, just talking pure normal batting. What you see on TV, the reverse sweeps, etc, that only got into his game a little bit later. He first started doing it about three, four years ago or five years ago, may be. When you bowl to guys like that, you try and read his mind. But he also tries to read your mind. He tends to be that one step ahead every time. That's how he goes after the bowlers. I was shocked to see his game. He does not practice (those shots) at the nets. That's just instinct and sheer talent takes over when he bats.

Your brother Morne has developed into a fearsome bowler along with Steyn for South Africa. How much of Morne's height an advantage?
Morne's height is his biggest asset. Because of that, he gets lots of bounce even on flat Indian wickets. Morne will get more bounce than any other bowler. That's what batsmen don't like. You can't get on the front foot and try and dominate because the ball always bounces at an uncomfortable level. We have played in the same teams together and one or two times against each other. It has never been a case of competing with each other. Morne, in his own right, is a fantastic international bowler. In the last two or three years, we have seen his value in the Proteas side. He may not be taking wickets but he definitely creates pressure for the other guys like Dale (Steyn) and Vernon (Philander) to take wickets.

Can you talk about your younger days with Morne and if he only did the bowling and you facing him and hitting all over the park?
We have an older brother also, Malan. After school, we used to play backyard cricket for five hours. Morne was not always a mean fast bowler like what he is now. As the youngest in the family, he did most of the bowling. Myself and the eldest brother batted the most. It was fun. I remember us going home and taking dad's lawn mower and mow up the wicket on our lawn into a pitch. We really put a lot of effort into our backyard cricket. Great times.

You, incidentally, replaced Morne to play your only Test (in 2009). Could you have played more Tests for South Africa?
Probably could have. The problem was our Test side for the last nine years has been very good. They have been No. 1 for 6 or 7 years. To find a spot in that combination was always going to be a problem. I competed with younger guys. Jacques Kallis was world-class and you cannot replace him. The other guy I sort of competed against was Shaun Pollock, another world-class all-rounder. That (Test against Australia in Cape Town) is something I look back on my career. I really enjoyed it. The intensity that was played with and the type of cricket, I really enjoyed it. It is better to say if I look back on my career, I would have liked to have played a few more Tests than to say I should have.

Do you think you realised your full potential for South Africa or things could have been better?
It is difficult to say. I have had a few good games and a few average ones. I think I have reached my full potential. It is in the destiny of some guys to become great international players. I did not do that but at least I played a lot of games for South Africa. I have got that experience, something I am really proud of.

At 33, do you see yourself playing again for South Africa? How demanding can it be for someone at your age to make an international comeback?
If you still do it, you do it. At 33, I still look good, physically. Obviously, you have to work a little bit harder than you used to in terms of fitness and keeping yourself injury free. Playing again for South Africa, I don't think so. South Africa, at some stage, need to start building for the future. The next World Cup is four years away, so there is no chance for me to play in that. Maybe next year's World T20. That is not too far away. It is in India. That is something that I will definitely target once I go back home. I have to really have a strong domestic season. Even that does not guarantee me a selection to the side. Let's see what happens.

How different is IPL from your own T20 league back in South Africa, the Ram Slam?
It is different in a lot of ways. Obviously the cricketing experience in India, you cannot replicate it anywhere else in the world. Just the crowd support, most of the games are sold out. In the first two seasons of IPL, the guys were still feeling around, what it was all about, getting their structures in place. But in the last few years, 90 per cent of the IPL games are of the same standard as international cricket. If you look at CSK, they have got 11 internationals in their side. The standard is much higher than Ram Slam. IPL standards is probably the highest in the world. You cannot replicate that in any country. Ram Slam standard is pretty good but you cannot compare with IPL.