IPL 2018: Lungi Ngidi talks about being picked up by the Chennai Super Kings

Lungi Ngidi, the young South African pacer is making news for his sensational performance against India. Ngidi joined the list of dream international debuts in Test cricket. In the second Test against India at Centurion, the 21-year-old’s remarkable figures of 6-39 in the second innings helped his side win the Test and later, the series too.

A terrific and consistent performer 

Ngidi’s maiden international assignment was against Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series in January 2017. The pacer immediately made an impact with six wickets in the series at an average of 7.33 and an economy of 5.50. The youngster made an impact in the first T20I itself with figures of 2-0-12-2 in Centurion. He also represented the winning Northerns team in the 2015/16 Afro T20 Cup in which he picked up six wickets from four matches and was later that year presented with the Africa T20 Cup player of the year award.

The IPL contract

All the aforementioned feats landed the emerging sensational an IPL contract with Chennai Super Kings last month, who bought him at Rs. 50 lakhs. After the six-match ODI series which South Africa lost, the young bowler caught up with Live Mint for a quick chat.

Much like others in the CSK outfit, Ngidi too is excited about the prospect of sharing the dressing room with former Indian captain, and the face of IPL, MS Dhoni. He said that he did not expect an IPL contract and that has probably come on the back of a few good performances in domestic cricket.

“No, I didn’t (expect an IPL contract). I knew I had a good T20 domestic series and my first few international T20 games had gone well. I was obviously hoping to be picked up (in the players’ auction) and was nervous about it too. I didn’t watch because we were playing a Test match. After the game, I checked my phone and everybody was congratulating me. I asked “what for” and then I realized I had been picked up by CSK. I will be playing with Dhoni, which is a dream come true for any young cricketer,” he was quoted by Live Mint.