Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Devon Conway reflected on his first IPL season and thanked all the CSK fans for their support throughout the season.
In his debut season for CSK, the New Zealand cricketer impressed everyone with his conventional gameplay. The left-handed batter had an elegant appearance and scored runs with an orthodox approach to the game.
After playing the season opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the Kiwi batter warmed the bench for a couple of matches before heading out to South Africa for his wedding. After returning to India, Conway was slotted straight in under MS Dhoni, who was given the captaincy back.
Conway ended the season with 252 runs in 7 games, striking at 145.66. He scored three consecutive fifty-plus scores and played a significant role in CSK's wins against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals.
"My wife would say that probably because I am married now, I had a good run of form, but I think yeah at some point of your life, you just feel content. You feel you are happy where you are at.
You can just translate that into your cricket and play with freedom and enjoy it. If that has got something to do with marriage, I don't know. But that is certainly the sort of form I struck after I got married," Devon Conway was quoted as saying on the official CSK website-chennaisuperkings.com.
Conway thanked CSK's fans for their gratitude and support throughout their campaign and also said that seeing CSK T-shirts with 'Dhoni 7' written on it was a "pretty special" feeling to experience for him.
"First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to all of their (fans') support. You could not wish for better loyal fans, so we're very thankful to have all of the followers and enthusiasts, and we do, and seeing all of the CSK T-shirts with 'Dhoni 7' on them in the stadiums was pretty special," Conway continued.
The men in yellow had a season to forget as they finished their campaign in the second last place in the IPL 2022 standings, with only four wins from league matches. This was the second time since the emergence of the IPL that the MS Dhoni-led team failed to qualify for the playoffs; the previous instance was in IPL 2020.
Even after having a bad season, Conway said that the team losing several close games was a sign that it was vibrant and not feeling "despondent" after defeats.
"The fact that we have lost some close games, we have not left the change room feeling despondent. The CSK way is to keep your chin up and keep a smile on your face and not let it affect you too much.
Because if you do, then you allow those emotions to affect you in the next game, and then all of a sudden, all your confidence is lost. That is probably one of the reasons why we were successful as a group in the history of the IPL. The guys keep constant whether we win or lose, and that is one of the things that keeps us moving forward," added Conway.