CAPE TOWN – Lungi Ngidi enjoyed a special relationship with former Proteas coach Ottis Gibson, but he believes the familiar face of Mark Boucher in the changeroom now will help him find his feet at international level again.
Gibson, a specialist fast bowling coach, took both Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada under his wing during his time with the Proteas. But Gibson has since moved on and is now working with another former Proteas coach Russell Domingo at Bangladesh.
Boucher is now the man in charge at the Proteas though, and Ngidi has walked a long road with the former record-breaking gloveman. After moving up to the nation’s capital from KwaZulu-Natal after school, Boucher quickly incorporated Ngidi into the Titans’ structures.
From thereon, he nurtured the fast bowler’s fledgling franchise career to Ngidi eventually capping it off with Man of the Match performance on Test debut a couple of years ago.
The meteoric rise has stalled a bit over the past 12 months, though, with Ngidi being troubled by niggling injuries. The latest setback was a hamsting injury that ruled the 23-year-old fast bowler out of the Mzansi Super League final and the four-match Test series against England.
“It has been frustrating. You want to play for the national team. You want to play for the fans, win games of cricket for your country,” Ngidi said.
“Having new coaches, you want to impress them. They understand you a lot better as a player. The guys feed off their energies. I enjoy working with him (Boucher). He is a very straightforward man. Its either black or white. We have a really good relationship.”
All eyes will certainly be on Ngidi during the upcoming ODI series, which starts on Tuesday at Newlands. The focus will undoubtedly be on his fitness and to ascertain whether the three weeks spent at Cricket SA conditioning camp has paid off.
Equally, Cricket SA acting director of cricket Graeme Smith has called for new “heroes” to emerge within the Proteas camp. It is for this reason that Smith has opted to rest talisman Kagiso Rabada for ODI series with Ngidi being tasked with leading the Proteas attack. It is a challenge Ngidi is relishing.
“I love the responsibility. There is lots of pressure in international cricket. You find how good you really are. My partner in cricket gets to take a bit of a rest, so I get to take the reins this series and hopefully I can get come out on the right side,” he said.
Ngidi will form part of a new-look Proteas attack with fellow youngster Lutho Sipamla joining him for the three-match series.
PROTEAS ODI SQUAD FOR ENGLAND SERIES
Quinton de Kock (capt), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne.