Who is Corbin Bosch? South African all-rounder who grabbed Ravichandran Ashwin's attention during Centurion Test

All-rounder Corbin Bosch was always going to be an exciting prospect when his name was chosen among the XI playing the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. And the all-rounder did not disappoint at all, first by taking a wicket on the first ball of his Test career, and then scoring a crucial half-century for the hosts while batting down the order. His unbeaten 81 off 93 balls helped the Proteas end the first innings with a 90-run lead, against Pakistan's 211 in their turn.

However, making into the international side and getting recognition on such a big Boxing Day event didn't come easy for the 30-year-old. The Durban-born lost his father at just five, in the year 2000, but the familial struggle could not stop him from pursuing his dream to play for the Rainbow Nation. A decade before his international debut, Bosch got the chance to don the South African jersey at the U19 World Cup in the 2014 edition.

During the junior level tournament, Bosch had delivered a match-winning performance against Pakistan U19s, and took a four-wicket haul while giving away just 15 runs in his quota of overs. This showing, which came under the captaincy of Aiden Markram, put the prodigy in him up on display, and it was probably written in the stars for him to shine bright against the senior opposition at his red-ball debut as well.

It took Bosch three years to feature in a first-class game after the U19 World Cup, and represented Titans in a domestic tournament. Before making it big, Bosch played 34 red-ball domestic encounters, picking up an impressive 72 wickets, while also scoring 1295 runs at a healthy average of 40.46 for someone who batted mostly down the order.

A fantastic all-round show did not take a lot of time for the franchise scouts to add the player to their kitty, as the cricketer went on to play in the leagues like Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and SA20. He was also a part of Rajasthan Royals squad for one of the previous edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and that is where his RR teammate Ravichandran Ashwin took note of the talent.

Impressed with his wicket on the first-ever ball bowled in Tests, Ashwin, who happens to be a legendary servant of the format, reminded people of Bosch's calibre by taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Corbin Bosch was at RR 3 years ago and was the kind who was chasing excellence. Has started off well with the ball but it’s worth remembering that he averages 40 plus with bat in FC,” Ashwin had tweeted.

Bosch might not have incredible numbers in 20-over cricket and might have had a rough debut to the 50-over format, which happened against the Men in Green few days back on the same tour. However, he has managed to come good for the country in the all-important Boxing Day Test. Notably, this is a crucial encounter for South Africa, as a win in this game would seal a spot in the World Test Championship 2025 Final for the Temba Bavuma-led side.

Given how he has fared so far, Bosch's performance could be key to the Proteas' chances in the game going forward.