Lungi Ngidi ruled out of Boxing Day Test between South Africa and England due to hamstring tear

England and South Africa will be facing each other in a series of four-Test matches starting with the first match to be played on December 26 at Centurion. This will be an exciting encounter given the recent sweeping changes that have been made in the South African cricket board. This match will also see the first one for Mark Boucher as the team’s new head coach.

England is coming off a good performance in the Ashes 2019, which they managed to draw 2-2 thanks to some spirited performance from Ben Stokes, while came very close to equalizing the two-Test series against New Zealand away from home.

They might have lost the series 1-0, but gave a tough fight to the No.2 ranked side in their own backyard. However, all eyes will be on the South African board’s new interim CEO, former captain Graeme Smith, and his decision while picking the team for the Test series.

Lungi Ngidi to be out of international cricket till January 2020

On Sunday, December 15, it was confirmed that fast bowler Lungi Ngidi will be out of action for a long time, including the first Test at Centurion on Boxing Day between the two sides as he had suffered a “significant Grade 1 hamstring muscle tear”.

“Lungi Ngidi sustained an acute hamstring muscle injury during the warm-up prior to the MSL T20 play-off on Friday. Scans done on Saturday showed a significant Grade 1 tear of his hamstring muscle and therefore he has been ruled out of the MSL T20 final,” Cricket South Africa chief medical officer, Shuaib Manjra was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.com. Ngidi will miss the MSL final and will only be fit to return in January next way.

“He will commence his rehab and return to play program with the aim of getting him fit to play for the Titans in January 2020 and based on his progress, a decision will be made regarding his availability for selection for the Proteas team,” he further said. Ngidi, who made his Test debut in January 2018, has had a history with injuries, and hence have just played in five Test matches.

Ngidi and his history with injuries

He had missed the home ODI series against Sri Lanka due to an abdomen injury, while missed the series in New Zealand and Australia due to hip and knee injuries, before missing out on IPL 2019 due to side strain. He missed a few games in World Cup 2019 as well.

He also played just one Test in India, putting an unimpressive performance in the Ranchi Test match, as his side went down 0-3. Ngidi has played a handful of MSL matches, and some First-class matches.

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