Lungi Ngidi, the South African right-arm seamer credited the IPL for helping him tackle massive crowds and acknowledged the overwhelming emotions that rode with it. He also attributed his IPL success in 2018 to MS Dhoni and the skipper’s confidence in him.
Lungi Ngidi was first featured in the IPL in 2018 for the Chennai Super Kings and played an instrumental role in their victory. The 26-year-old pacer picked up 11 wickets in seven matches that year at an impressive 14.18 apiece as the Yellow Army lifted their fourth trophy.
Lungi Ngidi Praised MS Dhoni For Putting His Trust On The Pacer And Rishabh Pant For Doing Well As Delhi Capitals Skipper
Lungi Ngidi said MS Dhoni’s trust in his ability to win games as a youngster played a massive part. He also admitted that the crowds during the tournament were initially overwhelming, but they eased up.
He said: “Having someone of Dhoni’s calibre put his trust in me to win him games when I was 22 was massive for me. The IPL also taught me how to handle a big crowd. I’d never played in front of 60,000 people and that was a bit overwhelming at the start. But once you get going it’s a breeze.”
The 26-year-old, who was part of the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022, also praised Rishabh Pant’s captaincy.
“Even this year, in Delhi, Rishabh Pant has been so good. He’s young but he already has so much influence within the game and being able to bowl to him in the nets and run ideas past him helps you grow as a cricketer.”
The Proteas bowler fetched INR 50 lakhs from the Delhi Capitals in the mega auction. However, he didn’t play any games this year as the franchise marginally missed out on a playoff berth. Lungi Ngidi played 3 seasons of IPL, in 2018, 2020, and 2021. He has picked up 25 scalps in 14 IPL games averaging 17.2 and conceding runs at 8.3.
Lungi Ngidi Said That Teammate Pacer Kagiso Rabada Reminds Him That He’s An IPL Winner Twice
The Durban-born player conceded that his fellow pacer Kagiso Rabada often reminds him of his achievements in the IPL and individual accolades when he feels down. Kagiso Rabada has picked up 99 wickets from 63 IPL games averaging 19.86 and was pivotal to Delhi Capitals’ superb run in the IPL 2019 and IPL 2020. He picked up 23 scalps in only 13 games in IPL 2022, averaging 17.65 for Punjab Kings.
Ngidi said: “When I talk to Kagiso Rabada, if I am a little down he’ll remind me: ‘You’re an IPL winner, twice, and you’ve won man of the match awards. So why are you sitting here denouncing yourself?’”
The South African will feature in the country’s upcoming England tour. The two sides will clash in three Tests, three ODIs, and three T20Is, starting with the first ODI on July 19th.
Regular white-ball captainTemba Bavuma will miss the tour due to his elbow injury. Notably, Temba Bavuma, who suffered from the injury on the recent tour of India, will need another eight weeks to recover fully.
In his absence, the selection committee has appointed David Miller and Keshav Maharaj as stand-in captains of the T20I and ODI teams, respectively. Senior speedster Kagiso Rabada has been rested from the ODI outfit with a view to managing his workload. Gerald Coetzee has received his maiden call-up in the T20I squad.