Stubbs hopes to spend time in India following his IPL experience and learn from Rohit Sharma

Tristan Stubbs, who is in the Temba Bavuma-led side for South Africa's tour of India, discussed his IPL experience and lessons learned while expressing his desire to enjoy his time with the Proteas.

An ecstatic Tristan Stubbs, who played for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2022, is looking forward to putting his cricketing talents and IPL knowledge to the test against the KL Rahul-led India side.

When the 21-year-old wicket-keeper was called up to join Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 as a substitute for England's left-arm bowler Tymal Mills, he was on tour in Zimbabwe with South Africa's A team. 

Stubbs has been called up for the first time to the Proteas for their five-match T20I series against India, which begins on June 9.

Tristan Stubbs said that it has been a crazy few months, and being called up to the Proteas is incredible. He is 'ecstatic' to have this opportunity. 

"You always want to play against the greatest to put yourself to the test, so playing against India in India is the perfect way for me to put myself to the test and demonstrate what I'm capable of,"

Stubbs wants to make the most out of the current opportunity: "I don't want to look too far ahead, but I just want to make sure I take this opportunity that I have been given and make the most of it and if I do that the rest can take care of itself. I just want to try and enjoy this experience as much as possible," said Stubbs.

Stubbs scored 2 and 0 in his two IPL appearances, but his 293 runs at an average of 48.83, and a strike rate of 183.12 for his home team, Warriors, in the CSA T20 Challenge put him on the radar of the national team.

"I was in good form leading up to the (CSA T20) tournament and then I was given a lot of freedom by the coaches to just go and play and it worked out nicely. It was a really cool experience playing in Zimbabwe. Just playing cricket abroad in an international environment, I took some great learning from that, while adapting to different conditions and being in that setup was great for me.

"The pitches were challenging and Zimbabwe are a good side that challenged us, so that was good. It was also great to chat with some of the senior players and learn from them," he added.

Just like many other players Stubbs admitted that teammates matter a lot when it comes to improving one's game. "Just to chat to guys like (Kieron) Pollard, Rohit Sharma and coach Mahela Jayawardene, it was awesome to learn from them and I tried to get as much as I could out of it. The whole setup of the IPL really opens your eyes and to go back there would be awesome."

Mumbai calling him for IPL 2022 was totally unexpected and expressed his wish to be back in the tournament next season. "It was a massive surprise to get the call-up. Very cool to be a part of it and I am so thankful that I got that opportunity because I got a lot out of that experience as well," said Stubbs.