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South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi played a key role in his team’s dominant win over India in the Super Eight clash on Sunday. After the match, he revealed that much of his growth as a T20 bowler goes back to his time with Chennai Super Kings during the 2018 IPL season, where he learned closely from veteran all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.
Ngidi said that the season was crucial for him. Although he didn’t play many matches, he used the time to work on his variations, which is something Bravo is known for mastering in T20 cricket.
How featuring for CSK helped Ngidi
In the match against India, Ngidi showed exactly how valuable those lessons have been. He bowled four tight overs, conceding just 15 runs at an economy rate of 3.75 and delivering 10 dot balls. Using a smart mix of wide yorkers and slower balls, he dried up the runs and built pressure, which eventually led to India collapsing for 111 in a heavy 76-run defeat.
“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," Ngidi said after the match, as quoted by PTI.
“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," he said, describing his method.
Ngidi explained that his main goal was not to hunt wickets but to create pressure which is something that is very important in modern T20 cricket.
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“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 also spoke openly about his plan against India captain Suryakumar Yadav, who struggled to score and managed only three runs off eight balls against him.
“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 believes his slower deliveries give him an advantage because batters cannot simply attack every ball.
“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. 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," he added.
After losing against South Africa, India will now face Zimbabwe in their second T20 World Cup 2026 clash which will take place at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
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