‘Greats like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis help you’ – Lungi Ngidi on his IPL stint with CSK

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen many players bursting onto the scenes and making it big in world cricket. Not only Indians, career of many foreign players also took off after featuring in the lucrative competition. South African speedster Lungi Ngidi also belongs to that category. A vital cog of the Proteas team across formats, Ngidi made his IPL debut for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2018.

He relished under MS Dhoni’s leadership and ended up taking 11 wickets in just 7 games. The pacer didn’t look back since and became one of the best in the business. Speaking of his stint in the gala competition, the 25-year-old said the exposure of playing in front of a large crowd tends to develop an individual. He also admitted feeling pressure in the competition with best players from different quarters plying their trade.

Playing in front of crowds was a big thing for me: Lungi Ngidi

“So first of all, playing in front of crowds (in IPL), that big was the first thing for me. Coming in as a young cricketer, you have never really experienced something like that so you find a way to adjust to that and you become comfortable within that,” Ngidi was quoted as saying by Times Now.

“Obviously, there is always pressure, it’s a high-level tournament and with all the best internationals around the world and the best Indian cricketers, the standard of cricket is very high and it tests you as a player and you tend to find where you actually fit in and where you are lacking,” he added. Meanwhile, Ngidi also said that guidance from the likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis helped him a lot.

“If you are lacking in a certain department, you got the right people around you to help you as well. You can bounce game plans off MS Dhoni, great batsmen like Suresh (Raina), Faf du Plessis, you can start to communicate with great batsmen and you learn your game as a bowler,” said the speedster. Meanwhile, Lungi was released by CSK ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction. Nonetheless, the pacer is expected to fetch a substantial amount in the bidding event.