IPL 2026: Kamboj’s success boils down to his professionalism, the way that he trains, says Simons

NEW DELHI: Pacer Anshul Kamboj’s rise to being the joint leading wicket-taker in IPL 2026 has drawn praise from Chennai Super Kings bowling consultant Eric Simons, who credited the youngster’s professionalism and training habits as the bedrock of his success in the competition.

With 17 wickets in nine matches at an economy rate of 7.54, Kamboj has stepped up to be the leader of the CSK bowling attack in both power-play and back-end overs. In CSK’s resurgent win over Mumbai Indians, Kamboj picked 3-32 against Mumbai Indians on Saturday.

“We have spoken a lot as a bowling unit around the chaos of batting at the moment. What do we focus on? One of the things we decided to go away from was an over-emphasis on lots of different tactics and to make sure that the bowlers walked onto the ground with absolute clarity in their mind as to what they wanted to do - number one and then safety to do that.

“We will bowl a really good delivery against the six. It is still a good delivery and it might still be the right ball to bowl next and that has been one of the things we have done. Anshul went away and the Anshul you see today was not there this season - it started last year.

“The things we worked on, he went into the domestic season and worked on different angles and approaches to the crease to be more accurate with his yorkers in particular. We have introduced round the wicket which is no secret now.

“There are a lot of nuances to what we are doing around the wicket that make him particularly effective. He has picked up wickets and been able to restrict the run rate as well. But I think what it really boils down to is his professionalism, the way that he trains,” said Simons in the pre-match press conference on Monday.