Thampi looks forward to his IPL stint with Sunrisers

"I owe a lot to Raina who showed belief in me and picked me in 12 of the 14 matches we played last year. If there was something I took away from last year's IPL, it was the confidence that I belong to this level," said the 24-year-old who took 12 wickets in what was his first brush with the cash-rich league.

Thampi is confident he would be able to replicate his success for his new team Sunrisers. 

"Bowling at some of the game's biggest hitters in MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli, helped me grasp the nuances of the game better and I'm hopeful of doing even better for Sunrisers. It has a strong squad an equally good support staff in place. 

I'm looking forward to playing under Tom Moody. Spending time with the coach of Gujarat Lions, Brad Hodge, proved beneficial to me and I'm sure it will be the same this season at Hyderabad as well," added Thampi.

The stocky fast bowler was a part of the victorious Indian team that won the Nidahas T20I tri-series trophy in Sri Lanka. "Although I didn't get a chance to play, it was a wonderful experience to be picked by the country. Before that I toured South Africa ahead of the Test series and it feels good to be on the selectors' radar," mentioned Thampi.

Meanwhile, Grand Slam off-spinner B Arun, who picked three wickets on the first day of the Elite division final, said his team could have restricted Globe Trotters to a much lower score than the 293 that it managed to keep it down to.

"I wasn't all that happy with my effort as I proved to be expensive giving away more than 100 runs. My plan was to keep it simple and force the batsmen into committing mistakes. 

We would have been happier restricting Trotters to under 250," said the offie. Arun has become an integral part of the Grand Slam team as he picked 24 wickets in the second half of the season.

Arun said he enjoyed bowling in tandem with left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore. "I thought he bowled really well and was duly rewarded by picking four wickets. He bowled an economical spell and bowling together helped us apply pressure on Trotters," remarked Arun.