Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers believes that emerging pacer Marco Jansen has the potential to become a very capable bowling all-rounder like Shaun Pollock. Jansen was named the International Cricket Council (ICC) Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2022 for his outstanding all-round contributions last year, according to De Villers.
Jansen won this prestigious award after recording 36 scalps and contributing 234 runs with the bat in the previous year. The tall cricketer beat out Arshdeep Singh, Finn Allen, and Ibrahim Zadran for this award.
“He has batted very well, he has played very well. He has had a fantastic couple of seasons. Once again another player who I have never heard of and all of a sudden in that one IPL season he rocked up and people told me he is a South African and I didn’t even know that,” said AB de Villiers while speaking on ESPNcricinfo.
“I do still believe he (Marco Jansen) is a bowling all-rounder” – AB de Villiers
“I do still believe he (Marco Jansen) is a bowling all-rounder. If he feels differently, great for him. He has got a fantastic opportunity to contribute with both bat and ball. I think of some of the best all-rounders in the world- (Ben) Stokes, Jack Kallis back in the day. There was nothing more rewarding for them to contribute with both skills”, he added.
“So obviously, you need to decide whether you are a batting all-rounder or a bowling all-rounder. If I have to think of him (Jansen) in Test matches, then yes he can score some runs, but he is not going to be at the level of Jack Kallis when he is done. So, my opinion, a bowling all-rounder. Make sure your bowling is right up there, try and be the best in the world, but definitely work on your batting”, ‘Mr.360’ opined.
“We saw someone like Shaun Pollock is a good example. He is a bowling all-rounder, but, he came out to score a few Test hundreds. He contributed with the bat in hand in all the formats of the game. So, that will be important for Marco. He needs to make sure that his top skill is still in place and he tries to be the best in the world with that”, the batting icon further added.
Jansen recently scored a blistering 27-ball 66 for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape against the MI Cape Town in the ongoing SA20 2023 tournament. His outstanding performance during that game wreaked havoc on opposition captain Rashid Khan.
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