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Lungi Ngidi is one of the many players who rose to fame after playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The South African pacer made his IPL debut with one of the most successful teams in the league, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2018. He then shortly got a maiden call-up for the national side to play white-ball games.
Although Ngidi has had so many ups and downs since his debut, the South African pacer is still thankful to CSK captain MS Dhoni for showing faith in him in his first season. Ngidi talked about his maiden experience in the world’s biggest T20 league and revealed how bowling in the IPL instilled confidence in him.
The 26-year-old said that having the trust of MS Dhoni was a huge confidence booster for him. "Having someone of Dhoni’s caliber put his trust in me to win him games when I was 22 was massive for me,” said Ngidi in an interview with The Guardian while talking about Dhoni’s role in his career.
The pacer then talked about how mesmerizing it was for him to bowl in front of 60,000 people. "The IPL also taught me how to handle a big crowd," continued Ngidi. "I’d never played in front of 60,000 people and that was a bit overwhelming at the start. But once you get going it’s a breeze."
Notably, Ngidi featured in seven games for CSK in 2018 taking 11 wickets as the MS Dhoni-led team won the trophy on their return to the IPL after two years of suspension. The right-arm quick then featured in the 2020 season where he scalped nine wickets from four games. In the 2021 season, Ngidi bagged 5 wickets from three games.
The South African pacer then moved to DC in 2022. However, Ngidi did not feature in a single match with the likes of Anrich Nortje and Mustafizur Rahman taking up the one spot available. But the pacer was happy to be a part of the DC camp and was all praise for captain Rishabh Pant. Lungi Ngidi said that although Pant is really new to captaincy, he has huge influence on the game.
"Even this year, in Delhi, Rishabh Pant has been so good. He’s young but he already has so much influence within the game and being able to bowl to him in the nets and run ideas past him helps you grow as a cricketer,” said Ngidi about Pant.