The Boxing day test match between India and South Africa finally kickstarted at the SuperSport Park today. Before the game began, South Africa handed the debut cap to the young left-arm pacer, Marco Jansen, for the Boxing Day Test against India on Sunday.
Interestingly, Marco Jensen has no number on his jersey as he was informed ahead of the game only that he will be making his Test debut for the Proteas. Jansen was included in the playing XI of South Africa’s team as a replacement of senior pacer Anrich Nortje, who suffered an injury ahead of the series.
The 21-year-old pacer, who is 6 feet 8 inches tall, hails from the South-West Province of South Africa. But not many are aware of the fact that the bowler was first spotted by the Indian skipper Virat KohliYes, you read that right. In fact, Virat Kohli is the reason that Jansen got his first big break.
Well, back in the 2017-2018 season, Jansen was noticed by the Indian cricket establishment. Later, Marco and his brother Duan Jansen were invited by Indian head coach Ravi Shastri to bowl at the nets when the Indian cricket team toured South Africa.
Back then, Virat Kohli was mighty impressed with the performances of Marco in the nets. Kohli was so impressed with the bowler three years back, which might have led to his name doing the rounds in the Indian dug-out. In fact, earlier this year, he also received an IPL deal with Mumbai Indians.
Talking about Jansen’s form, he is 16th on the first-class wickets chart for this season, with ten wickets at 12.30. He is expected to be the bearer of many bouncers and will be trying his best to make the Indian batters feel uncomfortable with his bowling.
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