"Gerald Coetzee Loves Bowling To Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma, Fights Fire With Fire"- Former South African Legend

It will be fair to say that 23-year-old South African Right arm Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee has taken the cricketing world by storm, due to his raw pace, aggression, and zeal to become the best in the world and when a legend like Allan Donald approves his abilities, there are reasons to believe that he is heading towards greatness.

In a recent interview with Rev Sportz, Allan Donald spoke on a wide range of topics from Japrit Bumrah’s uniqueness to what it takes to become a successful fast bowler. The 57-year-old was also asked about Gerald Coetzee, the South African pacer who came into the spotlight during the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

Allan Donald having worked with Coetzee for the Knights, a domestic team in South Africa, knows a thing or two about the youngster who is capable of making things happen with the ball. Donald did not hesitate while claiming that Gerald Coetzee would play a role similar to that Donald used to play during his playing days.

Donald also thinks that Coetzee getting sold to the Mumbai Indians during the IPL Auction for 2024 will boost his confidence and also help him improve his own game. Noticing that Gerald Coetzee wanted to play for South Africa as soon as possible, Allan Donald remembers pulling him back and asking him to stay in the present.

The only thing that Coetzee needs to improve is setting up fields with his bowling, something that he will develop sooner or later.

“He wanted to play very quickly for South Africa and I wanted to pull him back from that a little bit and focus on doing well for our team. But he has arrived. This kid has now announced himself at the Cricket World Cup.”

And of course, his signing with Mumbai Indians is a huge break for him. He is going to be the tearaway. He’s going to be that guy – the veins will pop out of his head. When he takes a wicket, he loves that.” – Donald said.

“He Will Thrive When Bowling Against Someone Like Rohit Or Virat”, Says Allan Donald On The Potential Of Gerald Coetzee

When talking about the future and potential of Gerald Coetzee, Allan Donald said that Coetzee is someone who will thrive and perform better in front of established batters like Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. He said it using an example of his playing days when he used to get the ball whenever there was any dangerous batter taking guard and sooner or later, Coetzee too will play a similar role.

“I think he thrives on bowling to a Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli. They love to take on the short ball so I think will be very interesting contest to have because he loves getting involved in those contests. It’ll be fire with fire. It was my job always to go after players like Brian Lara.”

“The moment he walked to the crease, the ball came to me and it was just a license to just go and take him down. And I think that’s what Gerald Coetzee’s job will be, to be the battering ram for South Africa.” – Allan Donald concluded.

If we talk about Coetzee’s stats for South Africa then he has accounted for 31 wickets in just 14 ODI matches with a very good economy rate of 6.48. In Test cricket, Gerald Coetzee has 9 wickets in 2 Test matches, and in the shortest format, the 23-year-old has 6 wickets in 4 matches.