Lungi Ngidi : Playing cricket helped me improve my parents’ lives
BCCI
Lungi Ngidi has stated that playing professional cricket since the age of 15 has helped him improve his parents’ lives. The 21-year old pace bowler enjoyed a perfect debut as he finished the second Test match with 7/113, which included a six-fer in the second innings and a man of the match award.
Lungi Ngidi has been a perfect example of a player who through his hard work and determination burst into the international platform and has since made a name for himself in just a month. The man from Durban had to face lots of hardships during his youthful days and Ngidi has finally reached a where he is grateful to the game for improving the lives of his parents.
“After all these years, cricket has afforded me the opportunity to bring my parents to Johannesburg for the first time, to stay in a hotel and watch me play Test cricket. Not many people get to do that and through cricket, I have been able to improve my parents’ lives,” said the South African when asked about the impact cricket had on his life, reported Livemint.
Every cricketer has childhood memories pertaining to the game they have chosen, and Lungi also shared his part of the story.
“There was a field in front of my house and every weekend, I used to go with my father and watch children playing cricket. Eventually, I asked if I could join in, and I have loved the game ever since. My parents couldn’t afford to buy me cricket kits. Even when I went for trials and was selected for district competitions, I never had batting equipment. I saw that as an opportunity to become a bowler. It just happened that way, pushing me towards becoming a fast bowler,” said Ngidi.
Ngidi had to spend his younger days at a boarding school from where he had to ask for a scholarship in order to take up cricket as a profession. It was there that he decided to take this opportunity to fulfil his dream.
“Living away from home, I understood that I had the opportunity to actually go forward in the sport. It wasn’t just cricket at that time—I was also playing rugby. I hadn’t made up my mind on what I was going to do until high school and it was probably in grade 10 that I decided to pursue cricket.Â
“My coach in high school, Shane Gaffney, who is also the coach of Temba Bavuma (the South African cricketer), said I could play for my country. He told me this in grade 9. I was 15 years old, so it took a lot of convincing for me to quit other sports and turn to cricket. I chose to trust him. He was there at my debut Test—he had promised he would be present whenever I played my first day of Test cricket,” added the fast bowler as he gave his coach the credit of helping him out with choosing cricket over rugby," said the 21-year-old.
Like everyone else Ngidi was also nervous on his debut, but it didn't stop him making a mark. In the first innings of the second Test match, he managed to get his first wicket in the international cricket where he sent Parthiv Patel back to the pavilion. Though he wasn't able to trouble other batsmen as such in the first innings, his fiery spell has left South African fans asking for more.
He enabled SA to take a 2-0 lead in the series as he ended up picking up 6 wickets in the second innings, which included the wicket of the invincible Virat Kohli.
“I was nervous on the first day, playing with and against the best players in the world. I couldn’t stop thinking that it was my debut. Perhaps it helped that this was my home ground, where I play for the Titans. But I was also pumped up because I knew we could win the series there. I guess that was natural. Coming up against Virat Kohli, I knew everyone would be watching. A youngster bowling to probably the best batsman in the world, so I had to step up to the challenge. I felt that not many opportunities like this come by and I wanted to make the most of it. We had a good battle, I think.”
“ I felt confident at that time. The crowd was cheering me. There were moments when I felt that Virat was on top (of the bowling) in the first innings, but the crowd helped push through those tough moments. I didn’t expect them to cheer that loud when I came out to bat and scored my first run. But it was a special moment (he scored 1 each in both innings, but was unbeaten in the first).
In the second innings, on Day 4, we knew that Virat’s wicket would put us in a good position. We were working towards that
“As a young cricketer, he has already made a name for himself. We have been friends for a long time and he inspires me to do well. We were rivals in junior and school cricket. I remember once he bowled out my team for 90-odd runs and it pumped me up. Having seen his bowling, I got back and had them at seven or eight wickets down at 70-odd. So it was always a good challenge to bowl against him.We do have an opportunity to be able to put up a deadly partnership like that. It is in our hands to carry on and bowl consistently. We are both 21 and 22 years old, so time is on our side,” said Ngidi about the inspiration he got from his childhood friend and teammate Kagiso Rabada.
After picking up 9 wickets in the second Test against India, Ngidi couldn't repeat his heroics in the ODI series where he could manage to pick up just 8 wickets in 4 matches as India dominated the DOI series 5-1.
“We went from a high of winning the Test series to a low. But it tells you that international cricket is never easy. India’s batsmen were in good form during the ODIs. Their spinners put us under a lot of pressure and won the series. I enjoyed this challenge nevertheless," said Ngidi.
However, his impressive start did not go in vain as to his surprise, he was bought by CSK for 50 lakhs in the IPL mega-auction and will now play under MS Dhoni this season.Â
“No, I didn’t (laughs). I knew I had a good T20 domestic series and my first few international T20 games had gone well. I was obviously hoping to be picked up (in the players’ auction) and was nervous about it too. I didn’t watch because we were playing a Test match. After the game, I checked my phone and everybody was congratulating me. I asked “what for” and then I realized I had been picked up by CSK.”
“I have been to India before with the South Africa Under-19 team, but the IPL feels like a bigger stage. I will be playing with Dhoni, which is a dream come true for any young cricketer,” concluded Lungi Ngidi.
