IND vs SA: To Be Honest, When I Played Today I Felt Like It Was A New Debut – Duanne Olivier On His South Africa Comeback

Pacer Duanne Olivier who made a comeback in the South Africa National Cricket Team after nearly three years in the game against India National Cricket Team at the Wanderers, Johannesburg said that he felt like it was a “new debut” for him.

Olivier returned with the figure of 3/64 as India were bowled out for 202 in 63.1 overs on Day 1, he bagged the crucial wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara (3), Ajinkya Rahane (0) and Shardul Thakur (0).

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The 29-year-old before the match against India, played for the Proteas side in 2019 against Pakistan and after that, he quit the national team to sign a Kolpak deal with Yorkshire, but with the Kolpak deal collapsing after Brexit, Olivier was forced to return to South Africa.

“To be honest, when I played today I felt like it was a new debut. You can say I was very nervous today,” Olivier said in a media interaction after day one’s proceedings.

“For me, it’s just trying to have good energy on the ball, to put the team in the best position. So we can make life easier for the batters,” he said.

I Don’t Know Why Lungi Ngidi Only Bowled 11 Overs – Duanne Olivier

Olivier was set to play the first Test against India as well but he had to sit out because of lingering effects of COVID-19 and also a hamstring niggle.

Meanwhile, talking about pacer Lungi Ngidi who bowled only 11 overs against India on Day 1 and went wicketless, Olivier said that he was ” very unlucky”.

“I don’t know why he only bowled 11 overs. I can’t tell you that but I think he was very unlucky, he was bowling exceptionally well. It’s one of these days when you don’t get the rewards even if you bowled well. There’s still the second innings, maybe he will get the rewards then,” Olivier said.

Duanne Olivier was also asked about South Africa’s bowling unit’s transformation from the first Test, to which he replied by saying that the message was just to stick to the plans and process.

“If you look at the first Test, as a bowling unit on the first day I don’t think we can pride ourselves on that. If you want to be hypercritical, probably we gave away 20-30 runs too many. The message was simple, just try to make them play more and stick to the plan, stick to the process that makes us successful as a bowling unit,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s easy to say we didn’t bowl well in the first Test. It was our first Test after a long time but no excuses. We have improved, we want to improve more. We don’t settle for anything,” he concluded.

Also Read: SA vs IND Weather Forecast And Pitch Report Of Day 2 At The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg- India tour of South Africa 2021-22, 2nd Test

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