CENTURION: It is hard to keep Pretorians quiet, they say. In fact, they are the most vocal, and the SuperSport Park is one of the noisiest venues which at times can even get nasty for the opposition.
So each time one of their own players – the Titans – made their way to the middle in the second Test (the likes of Aiden Markram, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis), they were generous in reception. When you thought that the din couldn’t get bigger, a 21-year-old walked in from the stairs on Sunday. The reception for debutant Lungi Ngidi was so loud that it threatened to bring down the only stand at the venue.
To begin with, Ngidi is not even a Pretorian. Born in Durban to a humble family, he received his education at the Hilton College. One among the things he learned there was how to bowl fast. Shane Gaffney, his coach at Hilton, remembers what Ngidi said after being handed a bat: “I always wanted to bowl. It did not seem fun, standing with the bat and waiting to hit the ball.”
After catching many eyes at the boarding school, Ngidi moved to University of Pretoria to pursue his interest in cricket. The biomechanical specialists at the varsity spent hours taking care of him, and educated him about the nuances of fast bowling.
At 18, with a national career being forecast, Ngidi was also learning about stress-fractures – a common occurrence among pacers – and how to avoid them. With many teams lining up, Ngidi’s workload was already being managed; a stark contrast to the youth scene back in India.
The summer of 2016 was a breakthrough one for Ngidi. Having impressed with speed and accuracy, he was handed a T20I cap around the same time last year against Sri Lanka at home, and picked up a four-for in his second outing.
In a year, Ngidi had taken his List A, First-Class and national bow. South Africa were now looking at fast-tracking him into their Test side.
Their A tour to England was supposed to be Ngidi’s audition. But, after three matches, he picked up a stress-fracture which put him on the physiotherapist’s table for six months.
“That was one of the biggest challenges I have had, going from such a high to such a low in such a short space of time. It was tough because I thought I was doing all the right things, but the results just weren’t going my way. I got a lot of time to reflect and get to know myself, and I got through it. I am a lot stronger than I thought I was,” Ngidi remarked.
That was also the time when former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher — who coaches Ngidi at Titans — gave him some harsh-but-true lessons. With Ngidi drifting a bit towards the allure of nightlife — among other things — Boucher was not going to let a promising career fade away.
Ngidi’s diet was changed. In a month, he shed eight kilos, and bulked up in areas necessary for a fast bowler. The result? A towering physique replete with huge biceps. “I was in the gym during the whole off-season. I had to lose a lot of weight. That was tough. I did a lot of weights as well. One of the main things was changing my diet and lifestyle. That was also pretty difficult, but it’s helped me,” mused Ngidi.
“A lot of credit goes to the coach (Boucher). We had a few hard chats behind closed doors. Some honest ones as well.”
On Sunday afternoon, as he prepared to bowl alongside Kagiso Rabada, it was a moment that Ngidi had been long waiting for. The two were supposed to be new-ball bowlers for South Africa during the 2014 U-19 World Cup — which they eventually won — but an injury then had denied him the opportunity. Years later, as he walked in on Sunday, it was almost like the whole of Centurion was waiting to see him. “It is a dream come true. I had goosebumps.”