Standing at a towering 1.93 meters in height, Lungisani Ngidi is undoubtedly one of the brightest prospects of South African cricket. The imposing speedster who can bowl constantly over the 140 kph mark, has formed a formidable pair with the fiery Kagiso Rabada to lead the South African bowling line-up.
However, Ngidi, who has the rare talent of swinging a cricket ball both ways, had to overcome his fair share of struggles to achieve the feat.
The 22-year-old took to Twitter to reveal that there was a time when he and his brother had to sell peanuts by the roadside for their living.
Fun fact: There was a stage my brothers and i used to sit and sell peanuts on the side of the road 😅😂
— Lungi Ngidi (@NgidiLungi) April 16, 2018
Ngidi got his much-needed breakthrough earlier this year when he made his Test debut against the Indians on home soil. The rookie tore apart the Indian batting line up like a pod of peas to script a sensational victory for South Africa.
His career-best figures of 6/39 scripted his way into the 11th edition of the lucrative Indian Premier League.
Remarkably, the Protea spearhead was picked up by the returning Chennai Super Kings for an amount of 50 Lakh Rupees in the 2018 IPL auctions.
However, the bowler had to leave the tournament in the very early stages due to the demise of his father. On the international front, Ngidi has appeared in 4 One Day Internationals for South Africa whereas his caps in the longest format of the game stands at 3.
Previously we had come across the story of Manzoor Dar, a Kashmiri lad who defeated similar kind of hardships to play cricket at the highest level. It is overwhelming to see these how these youngsters fight and conquer adversity to fulfill their dreams. As far as Lungi Ngidi is concerned, it is just the beginning of many more glorious years to come.