South Africa pacer Lungi Ngidi had had everyone in Delhi Capitals (DC) worried as his awkward fall in an attempt to take a catch against Punjab Kings (PBKS) led to a neck injury. Ngidi suffered concussion and wasn’t responding to basic instructions. He had to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance where his condition was stabilised. As the Proteas pacer returned to action on May 6, DC head coach Hemang Badani was asked about how the dugout was responding to the series of events. Badani revealed that there was panic in the dugout seeing Ngidi stretchered off the field. He lauded DC’s physio for handling the situation and taking care of Ngidi.
"Ohh, tell me about it. We were all worried for him when it happened. We were all like, will he be okay? Because I was literally on the ground when that happened. I mean, within the next five odd minutes, he wasn’t responding to anything. He wasn’t responding to simple things like, can you lift your hand? Can you lift your right hand, your left finger, your left thumb? There was no response. At that point, we were all panicking. But I thought Craig, our physio, did a fabulous job to make sure that he was in the ambulance quickly. Later in the evening, we got to figure out with the scans that he’s okay, and now he’s seen back on the park," Badani told broadcasters.
Ngidi soon recovered. He was ruled out for the clash against his former franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) which was a couple of days later. He had to miss the match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) as a part of concussion protocol under which the player can’t return to action within a week.
How Ngidi performed on comeback?
In the home game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Ngidi replaced Kyle Jamieson. He shared the new ball with Mitchell Starc. In his first over, he dismissed CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. In his second over, he was hit for a couple of sixes by Urvil Patel. Skipper Axar Patel brought Ngidi back into the attack in the 14th over which featured five dot balls. In his last over, he conceded 12 runs, including a boundary each off Sanju Samson and Kartik Sharma's bat. In his quota of four overs, he conceded 30 runs.
DC ended up losing to CSK by eight wickets, suffering their sixth defeat of the season.
Ngidi will be seen in action again as DC go up against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 8. DC’s next four games are must-win as they have lost six games already.