Beuran Hendricks, a 23-year-old South African fast bowler, is four years old in first-class cricket and he recently made his international debut in the 2014 World Twenty20. A few months later, Hendricks finds himself amidst the frenzy of T20 cricket that is the Pepsi IPL. The pacer made his IPL debut, for KXIP, in Delhi and returned with three wickets against his name. He started off gingerly, facing the wrath of Kevin Pietersen’s bat, but the young man soon pulled himself back together in the death overs. His first spell read 2-0-23-0 and the second spell reflected figures of 2-0-13-3. Those two tight overs in his latter spell could have been the difference between victory and defeat for KXIP, as they scraped home in a last-over thriller while chasing DD’s 164. After KXIP won the match by four wickets, Hendricks spoke to IPLT20.com about his first IPL experience. Here are excerpts from his interview: First IPL game – a totally new experience? It’s been really exciting. I’ve been with the guys for a couple of weeks now and I’ve gotten to know them much better and got to feel the vibe and the atmosphere of the tournament. It was really good to get on the field and play. At any point in the tournament did you doubt whether you’ll get a game or not? The team was winning and so I just took a backseat and watched them do good things for us. But I was always preparing myself to play, thinking that anything can happen in the game. Mitchell didn’t feel too well, so I got the opportunity and I was ready to go today. Tough to watch from the sidelines as your teammates win games on the field? It’s a little tough to be honest, but you also enjoy watching them. The atmosphere in the camp becomes really cheerful and you get to be a part of the celebrations in the dressing room for sure. These have been happy days for us. You went for 23 in your first two overs. Was it nerves? I had a little bit of nerves because this is the IPL – it’s global cricket – and it was my first game at this level. Also, I didn’t have much of game time recently, so I was feeling my way into the game. It was a good feeling to get back and I kept telling myself that it’s not the way you start, but the way you finish. And I finished well today. You bowled short and wide to KP and paid the price? Definitely. I wasn’t hitting my lengths as I normally do. But I just reassessed what I had to do when I came back to bowl my second spell and I managed to pull things back. I love bowling in the death and I was able to hit my spots right in my last two overs.