The pivotal moment in Lungi Ngidi’s development as a superb T20 bowler occurred in the IPL practice nets rather than on an international level. He ended up altering his skill after a mostly forgettable 2018 season with the Chennai Super Kings, as hours of watching and studying Dwayne Bravo turned his slower ball into a game-changing tool.
Ngidi once again demonstrated the nuanced variations that have been essential to his T20 arsenal when he bamboozled India in the T20 World Cup match in Ahmedabad on Sunday, returning neat statistics of 0/15 in four overs, including 10 dot balls. He alternated between wide yorkers on several occasions.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav struggled to line him up and frequently shaped to work what he thought would be an off-cutter into the leg-side only to run into a different variant.
Admitting that mastering the art of change-ups was a gradual process, PTI quoted Ngidi tracing the roots of his transformation, saying: “Like I’ve always said, I was at the IPL in 2018 with Bravo, and that entire IPL, that’s all I worked on. I wasn’t playing, so I got time to practice it. And then when I got back to South Africa, I just tried to perfect that ball. Whether it’s a slow ball yorker, or back of length or slow ball bouncer. So three different lengths with the same ball. I guess you’ve got to guess which one’s coming next.”
Ngidi thinks anonymity is advantageous, even though he isn’t often the main focus of opposition plotting.
“I think probably just flying under the radar. So not many people pay attention to me. But I guess that helps me in terms of being able to us all these variations,” he said.
“And then tonight, I used my leg cutter because I know that they’re obviously probably preparing for just an off-cutter. I could see Surya set up as well, looking to sort of just lift it over the leg side. So just to show him something different, keep him guessing. And that seemed to work pretty well,” Ngidi said, while explaining his approach against India.
Ngidi’s spell was more influenced by his awareness of the game than by his desire to take wickets.
“But I guess just looking at the scoreboard and seeing their position, I kind of knew what I had to do. It was pretty much more build pressure than try to be greedy and put my name up in the wickets column. So, yeah, using that tactic, I guess it worked off pretty well tonight,” he said.
In a time when batters want to dominate right away, he feels that the slower ball tips the scales in his favor.
“But I think having my slower ball gives me the upper hand in terms of batsmen can’t just swing every ball. We’ve seen that a bit in the power play. So once you have to think, I think that’s where I come into the game.”
Ngidi’s main goal is to make batters doubt themselves.
“Once you start second-guessing your options, I think that’s what a bowler really wants in the end. And then all of a sudden, once the pressure’s building, I don’t think they have an answer for what I’m about to deliver next. So it kind of works in my favour that nobody really thinks about me,” Ngidi added.
