Lungi Ngidi

Lungisani Ngidi (born 29 March 1996) is a South African cricketer who plays for the South Africa national cricket team.[1] In the 2018 South African Cricket Annual Awards, he was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year.[2][3] In July 2020, Ngidi was named both ODI and T20I cricketer of the year at Cricket South Africa's annual awards ceremony.[4]

Lungi Ngidi

Personal information
Full name	Lungisani Ngidi
Born	29 March 1996 Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	South Africa (2017–present)
Test debut (cap 334)	13 January 2018 v India
Last Test	6 January 2021 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 126)	7 February 2018 v India
Last ODI	4 March 2020 v Australia
T20I debut (cap 67)	20 January 2017 v Sri Lanka
Last T20I	29 November 2020 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2015–present	Northerns
2016–present	Titans
2018–2020	Chennai Super Kings
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 8 26 16 21 Runs scored 42 47 7 95 Batting average 7.00 15.67 2.33 7.30 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 Top score 14* 19* 4 15 Balls bowled 1,183 1,230 320 2,798 Wickets 24 53 28 62 Bowling average 26.66 21.50 17.03 24.62 5 wickets in innings 1 1 0 4 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 6/39 6/58 4/19 6/37 Catches/stumpings 4/– 8/– 2/– 9/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 29 January 2021

Early life

Ngidi was raised in Kloof, Durban and received a scholarship to attend Highbury Preparatory School. While growing up, Ngidi's mother was a domestic worker and his father was a maintenance worker at a local school. Ngidi received a scholarship to attend Hilton College School. During his first three years at Hilton, Ngidi represented Hilton at rugby before he stopped to focus on cricket. While at Hilton, Ngidi was coached by the former Zimbabwe all-rounder Neil Johnson.[5][6]

After graduating from Hilton, Ngidi enrolled in a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in Industrial Sociology at the University of Pretoria.[7]

Domestic cricket career

He was included in the Northerns cricket team squad for the 2015 Africa T20 Cup.[8] In July 2016 Cricket South Africa named him as the Africa T20 Cup player of the year.[9] In August 2017, he was named in Benoni Zalmi's squad for the first season of the T20 Global League.[10] However, in October 2017, Cricket South Africa initially postponed the tournament until November 2018, with it being cancelled soon after.[11]

In October 2018, he was named in Tshwane Spartans' squad for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament.[12][13] In March 2019, he was named as one of eight players to watch by the International Cricket Council (ICC) ahead of the 2019 Indian Premier League tournament.[14]

In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the Tshwane Spartans team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.[15]

International career

In January 2017 he was included in South Africa's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against Sri Lanka.[16] He made his T20I debut for South Africa against Sri Lanka on 20 January 2017[17] and was awarded man of the match.[18] During the T20I series, Ngidi was named in South Africa's squad for their One Day International (ODI) matches against Sri Lanka.[19] However, he was ruled out of the ODI series because of an abdominal injury.[20]

In January 2018, he was added to South Africa's Test squad ahead of the second Test against India.[21] He made his Test debut for South Africa against India on 13 January 2018. He returned figures of 7/87 in the match, including 6/39 in the second innings, as South Africa won by 135 runs.[22] Later the same month, he was named in South Africa's One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against India.[23] He made his ODI debut against India on 7 February 2018.[24]

In January 2018, he was bought by the Chennai Super Kings in the 2018 IPL auction for ₹50 lakhs ($78,650).[25]

In March 2018, Cricket South Africa awarded Ngidi a national contract, ahead of the 2018–19 season.[26] In April 2019, he was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[27][28] On 4 March 2020, in the second ODI against Australia, Ngidi took his first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket.[29] In the same match, he became the fastest bowler for South Africa, in terms of matches, to take 50 wickets in ODIs, doing so in his 26th game.[30]

Activism

In July 2020, Ngidi called on the national team to have a discussion about the Black Lives Matter movement in South African cricket, and for the team to support the movement. He also addressed institutionalised racism in cricket. Ngidi said he would not mind taking the lead in the team's efforts, and stated, among other things: "We're all together again in person. We obviously have spoken about it and everyone's aware of what's been going on. But it's also currently a difficult (issue) because we're not together. I think it's something that's hard to discuss when we're all still separated, but once we get back to play, we'll address it".[31] His comments garnered opposing views and criticism from former Proteas Rudi Steyn, Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar. At least 30 former Proteas, all players of colour, along five coaches, released a collective statement, showing support for Ngidi and the BLM movement, while urging Cricket South Africa to "be unequivocal about its position and to make sure the problem is confronted".[32]

References

1. "Lungi Ngidi". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
2. "Markram, Ngidi named among SA Cricket Annual's Top Five". Cricket South Africa. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
3. "Markram, Ngidi among SA Cricket Annual's Cricketers of the Year". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
4. "Quinton de Kock, Laura Wolvaardt scoop up major CSA awards". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
5. Burnard, Lloyd (18 January 2018). "School coach: Ngidi a 'special' human being". Sport. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
6. Said, Nick. "The story of Lungi Ngidi, from high school scholarship to South Africa's Test star". Scroll.in. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
7. admin (25 January 2018). "Manthorp column: Gibson's faith in South Africa's bowling reserves delivers after discovery of Ngidi". The Cricket Paper. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
8. Northerns Squad / Players – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
9. "Rabada dominates CSA awards". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
10. "T20 Global League announces final team squads". T20 Global League. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
11. "Cricket South Africa postpones Global T20 league". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
12. "Mzansi Super League - full squad lists". Sport24. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
13. "Mzansi Super League Player Draft: The story so far". Independent Online. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
14. "Indian Premier League 2019: Players to watch". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
15. "MSL 2.0 announces its T20 squads". Cricket South Africa. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
16. "Behardien to lead in T20 as SA ring changes". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
17. "Sri Lanka tour of South Africa, 1st T20I: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Centurion, Jan 20, 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
18. "Miller powers SA to victory in 10-over thrash". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
19. "De Villiers, Ngidi included in SA one-day squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
20. "Lungi Ngidi to miss ODIs against Sri Lanka with abdomen injury". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
21. "Olivier, Ngidi added to South Africa squad for second Test". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
22. "2nd Test, India tour of South Africa at Centurion, Jan 13-17 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
23. "South Africa pick Ngidi and Zondo for India ODIs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
24. "3rd ODI (D/N), India tour of South Africa at Cape Town, Feb 7 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
25. "List of sold and unsold players". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
26. "Markram, Ngidi awarded CSA central contracts". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
27. "Hashim Amla in World Cup squad; Reeza Hendricks, Chris Morris miss out". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
28. "Amla edges out Hendricks to make South Africa's World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
29. "Ngidi rips through Aussie batters". SA Cricket Mag. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
30. "Six of the best for Ngidi as Proteas restrict Aussies". The Citizen. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
31. Schenk, Heinz (6 July 2020). "Lungi Ngidi won't mind taking lead in Proteas' Black Lives Matter efforts". Sport24. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
32. Burnard, Lloyd (14 July 2020). "30 former Proteas express united support for Lungi Ngidi, Black Lives Matter". Sport24. Retrieved 17 July 2020.

External links

• Lungi Ngidi at ESPNcricinfo