For someone to score a century on ODI debut in Dubai having flown for 20 hours following exams in New Zealand, it certainly speaks volumes about his tenacity and strong mindset.
It is also noteworthy that Mark Chapman, the Hong Kong-born cricketer who’s now a part of the Black Caps squad, had suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee back during his teenage days while playing rugby.
Qualifying to play for New Zealand through his father Peter, the 27-year-old left-handed batsman has had to warm the benches in most of the matches since his debut for the Black Caps in February 2018 in a T20I tri-series. It wasn’t much different in the recent T20 World Cup too, where New Zealand finished runners-up.
Yet, Chapman hasn’t allowed frustration to creep in, keeping himself motivated right through till his opportunity arrived in the first T20I versus India in Jaipur on Wednesday, where he hit a gritty 50-ball 63. The knock also helped Chapman become the first player to score half-centuries for two different countries in T20Is (Hong Kong and New Zealand).
“Honestly, it was just nice to be out there… Had a lot of training behind the scenes, but nothing beats the real thing of being out in the middle,” he said ahead of the second T20I of the series, which is to be played in Ranchi.
“In World Cups, you play your best XI and if the team is going well, then it’s more than likely that you stick with your best team. So it just meant that I was on the sidelines for a bit. I did my best to support the guys in and around training.
“You need to find ways to add context to your training. Obviously, being in and around this environment, you try and train the best you can given the situation and make the most of the opportunities to train.”
He’s well aware of the long road he still has to travel, especially when it comes being an automatic choice for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. “This Black Caps team is pretty competitive to get into, so whenever you get your opportunity, you’ve just got to do what you can to contribute for the team,” he said.
