India vs South Africa: Who is Marco Jansen? Know all about 6’8 left-arm Protea pacer

Jansen has no number on his jersey as he was informed only earlier this morning that he’ll be making his Test debut. The 6 feet 8 inches tall pacer has been included in the side as a replacement to senior quick Anrich Nortje. Nortje suffered an injury before the start of the series.

The 21-year-old cricketer hails from the South-West Province of South Africa. He was first noted by the Indian cricket establishment in the 2017-18 season. Jansen and his twin brother – Duan Jansen – were invited by India head coach Ravi Shastri to bowl at nets when India toured SA.

Back then, India captain Virat Kohli was mighty impressed with his performance in the nets. In fact, Kohli is the reason Jansen got his first big break. The India Test captain was impressed with the young bowler in the Johannesburg nets three years ago, which may have led to his name doing the rounds in India, and an IPL deal earlier this year with Mumbai Indians.

Reason why Jansen was picked in the 1st Test?

Jansen only played two matches in the tournament and has a limited first-class experience. With only 19 caps and the absence of Nortje, and bowler-friendly conditions, the Proteas chose to unleash him.

Jansen is expected to be the bearer of many bouncers, and will likely be tasked with making the visiting batters feel as uncomfortable as possible.

Jansen’s form:

Talking about his recent form, Jansen is 16th on the first-class wickets chart for this season, with ten wickets at 12.30. He was the fifth leading bowler in the series between South Africa A and India A, with six wickets at 31.83.

Jansen at IPL 2021:

Jansen knows a bit about Indian conditions as he has toured this country with South Africa A in 2019 and later was part of the South Africa senior team that toured Pakistan recently.

After picking Jansen at the IPL 2021 Auction, MI Director of Operations and former India pacer Zaheer Khan had said, “Marco has been a very highly rated bowler in South Africa. We were actually surprised to see him go at such a low price. We were expecting some more bidding around him.”

Jansen also seemed excited about playing for Mumbai for that gave him chance to interact regularly with two of the best bowlers in international cricket – Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.