Await, a fast bowling fest

by Rex Clementine

If you wonder why Delhi Capitals have had a decent run in the IPL, there are several factors. One of the key reasons being that they have the luxury of having two of the quickest, meanest fast bowlers around. They are both South Africans and will share the new ball during the six match bilateral series against Sri Lanka.

Both Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are from different backgrounds. Rabada is from Johannesburg and attended one of the top schools in the country; St. Stithians College. Nortje is the complete contrast. He is Afrikaans and hails from a small town called Uitenhage close to Port Elizabeth. They don’t have much in common, except perhaps, they constantly touch 150kmph.

It will be an absolute delight to watch the duo having a crack at the Sri Lankan top order and it will be a good learning process for the likes of Avishka Fernando and the other young top order batsmen, who have rarely faced such speed from both ends.

While Rabada has established himself in the side, Nortje is still finding his feat having played just a handful of games for South Africa. RPS will rarely have anything for the quicks but as we have seen time and again, the South African quicks hardly need any assistance off the surface to make an impact. Remember Brett Schultz!

Fans have not heard much of Lizaad Williams, who has just played one ODI but he is another player who could generate serious pace.

Left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi is the number one ranked bowler in T-20 cricket in ICC Rankings. Wanindu Hasaranga is ranked second and the battle of the two wrist spinners will be interesting to watch during the series.

The South African team arrived in the early hours of yesterday and underwent Rapid Antigen test before entering their team hotel. All of them turned negative. Their PCR tests also turned negative and the Proteas are expected to resume training shortly.

Meanwhile South African Head Coach Mark Boucher is under fire for using offensive language during his playing days. Former spinner Paul Adams has revealed that he was nicknamed ‘brown s***’ by a group of white players including Boucher. The former wicketkeeper has apologized and blamed it on lack of ‘maturity and consciousness’ immediate post apartheid era.