Duanne Olivier was quite a sensation during the 2017-19 period for South African Cricket as he took the cricketing world by storm. He had quite a stellar start to his career as he picked up 48 wickets at an impeccable average of 19.25 and a ridiculous strike rate of 30.
Despite a superlative start on the international circuit, Olivier decided to sign a Kolpak deal with Yorkshire County Club and leave South Africa. After a three-year-long absence, Duanne Olivier is set to make a return to international cricket for South Africa as he has been picked to face India in the upcoming series after a superlative run in first-class cricket.
Duanne Olivier, who has picked up 28 wickets at an average of 11.14 and a strike rate of 23.1 in the CSA’s four-day matches has opened on his return.
“The UK helped me a lot in perfecting that fuller length that every bowler wants to bowl. I’m still working on it and I am not going to get it right every single time but the three years I spend in the UK helped me immensely.
“People thought I only bowl short and fair enough, I did that, but now I feel like I have a different element to my game,” Olivier told reporters.
The selection of Duanne Olivier has indeed raised some eyebrows since he turned back on South African cricket in 2019.
“I know people will have mixed feelings about it, but at the end of the day, it’s OK. You handle that and you deal with those pressures or the criticism that comes with that,” he says.
“I’ll have a different feeling this time” – Duanne Olivier
Duanne Olivier who took an impressive 5-57 against Sri Lanka on debut has admitted that the nerves if he plays against India might be similar to that of the debut game.
“Wherever I play, I’m always nervous. If it’s my first over, I am very nervous. I’ll have a different feeling this time.
“Maybe it might be similar to a debut because I haven’t played for three years. If I’m selected to play, I think my nerves will be shot through the roof,” Olivier said. (With Reuters inputs).
Olivier is set to make a comeback vs India in the first test at Centurion as Anrich Nortje is out of the series with an injury.
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