Marco Jansen
Marco Jansen (Image Credit: Twitter)

Marco Jansen was an unknown entity when he made his first strides for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2021 and impressed everyone with his ability to generate bounce on dead pitches. However, he came into his own in the Test series at home against India, as he played a huge role in the hosts beating the visitors 2-1, despite losing the first Test match.

Jansen, the 6ft 8in behemoth, was the find of the series for the Proteas as he scalped 19 wickets at an average of 16.47 and a strike rate of 32.6 and helped pace bowling attack leader Kagiso Rabada batter the Indian batting attack, as South Africa registered big wins in Johannesburg and Cape Town after losing the Cape Town Test match.

Marco Jansen
Image Source: Twitter

And former South Africa spin bowler Robin Petersen feels that Jansen will go a long way in making South Africa a successful Test team.

Marco Jansen Is Probably The Best We’ve Had: Robin Petersen

Peterson, who is the coach of the Warriors domestic team that recruited Jansen, revealed how the pacer will help South Africa become a successful force in Test format. He also shared things about the 2.03 meters tall bowler which impressed him the most.

“He’s two metres tall and delivers the ball at pace from height. What caught my eye is his accuracy. He could sustain his pace for a long time. What was also impressive was how he could bowl with the old ball. With his discipline and what he did with the old ball, he was miles ahead in terms of maturity. That stood out. The more I got to know him the more I realised he’s got a lot of heart and fight in him,” Petersen told News18.com.

Marco Jansen, Jasprit Bumrah
Marco Jansen, Jasprit Bumrah. (Photo: Twitter)

The former South Africa cricketer also called Jansen the best left-arm pacer Proteas has unearthed since Brett Schultz, who had a short yet impactful career, which was plagued with injuries in the 1990s.

“In terms of Test-match quality, Marco is probably the best we’ve had since Brett. He swings it, he’s tall and in South African conditions he’s always going to get that extra bounce and challenge the outside edge. On top of that, he is accurate and I think he is going to go a long way in making South Africa a successful Test team. And he can bat. So when you look at combinations in white-ball cricket, all of a sudden Marco opens up completely different options for the team,” Petersen said.

Jansen’s addition to the Proteas pace attack covered up for the absence of injured Anrich Nortje as South Africa pocketed the series 2-1.

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