Dubai [UAE], December 8 : Guyanese batter Sherfane Rutherford wants to set standards and records as he sets his sights on the inaugural season of the ILT20 in the UAE, lining up for the Desert Vipers.
Left-hander Rutherford, 24, is seen as a franchise cricket-playing machine, having successfully plied his trade across continents, be it the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the Lanka Premier League or the Bangladesh Premier League.
Discipline and hard work are at the core of his approach, and as a member of two T20 tournament-winning teams, in the PSL and the CPL, this is a man who knows what it takes to be victorious, a Desert Vipers release said.
Add to that his extensive UAE playing experience, most recently for the Northern Warriors in
the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament alongside fellow Desert Vipers player Adam Lyth, and it is
clear Sherfane Rutherford will undoubtedly be a valuable member of the Desert Vipers squad.
So, what makes him tick, why did he choose the Desert Vipers and does he have ambitions of
playing across formats for the West Indies? We have answers to all those questions and more
from the man himself.
On how his joining the Desert Vipers came about, Sherfane Rutherford said: "My agent called me saying he had something interesting. He told me about the T20 tournament in the UAE and I said Yes, you can put me up. I am excited to see what this new opportunity will offer and hopefully I can give it my best."
On the appeal of the UAE's ILT20 league over other T20 tournaments in Australia, Bangladesh and South Africa, Sherfane Rutherford said, "UAE is a place I love since I came here the first time. I have always imagined coming back and playing cricket here. So, when I heard about the opportunity, I said 'yes,' I really want to come here, it does not matter how long it is, I just want to be in the UAE, the pitches here are nice and it is beautiful to play cricket here."
Talking about his mindset as a batter in T20s and how he approaches practice sessions Sherfane Rutherford said in the nets, he does not play too many shots and focuses on technique.
"I look to bat properly and try to get my technique right. I try to get closer to the ball because in T20s there are times when you still need to come and bat properly. So, my mindset is that if I am in that situation, I can always do it because I work on it in the nets. For me, in the nets, I just look to put myself in the scenario where I have come in early with the new ball, and so I try to bat properly."