Marco Jansen should have been the ‘Player of the Match’ in the India vs South Africa 3rd T20I. The tall all-rounder was the best bowler at the Centurion last night, and despite Tilak Varma scoring a blazing hundred, one could call him the best batter of the match as well.
Jansen: Unplayable with the ball
In a game where 10.67 runs were scored an over, Jansen went at 7 and got the prized wicket of Sanju Samson on the first ball. He conceded just three boundaries in his spell, all of which came in his first two overs. That means, in the backend of the first innings (17th and 20th overs), he was unhittable. Just 12 runs scored off him.
Jansen has gained fame as a supremely talented but wayward bowler. His overall economy is over 8 in T20s, and in the Indian Premier League (IPL), he goes at over 9.5 runs an over. But, against India at home, he’s shown that he’s matured. He’s gone for just 77 runs in 3 matches and taken 3 wickets. This change just doesn’t apply to his bowling either.
Marco Jansen hits fastest half century vs India in T20Is
After a sensational performance with the ball, Jansen showed what he could do with the ball. The lanky all-rounder can hit a long ball. Just ask England what happened in Mumbai on October 21 last year. The score was 142/5 when Jansen came to bat in Centurion in the 3rd T20I. South Africa needed 78 runs in 4.1 overs.
What did Jansen do? Well, he hit the fastest-ever half-century by a player against India. He smashed an 18-ball century and got the Proteas closer to the mammoth target. He got Ravi Bishnoi, Hardik Pandya, and Arshdeep Singh on. If not for that nifty DRS in the last over of the match, Jansen might have stolen the match from under India’s nose.
Rs 10 crore assured at IPL 2025 auction for Jansen?
That’s why Dale Steyn, the legendary South African quick, and his former coach at the Sunrisers Hyderabad feel that Jansen would rake in Rs 10 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction. Jansen certainly has all the ingredients needed to go big at the auction. Ben Stokes and Sam Curran are two of the most recent examples of foreign all-rounders getting big price checks at the IPL auction.
Jansen has shown that he’s a good enough bowler for some time now, but it was his batting that was deflating his stocks. Now that he’s shown the destruction he can cause in the death overs, he might find not one or two but multiple suitors in Jeddah later this month. If he performs similarly in the 4th India vs South Africa T20I as well, maybe that 10 crore mark would be breached as well.
Marco Jansen IPL stats
| Matches | Wickets | Bowling Average | Economy | Bowling Strike Rate | Runs | Batting Average | Batting Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 20 | 35.75 | 9.53 | 22.5 | 66 | 9.42 | 100.00 |
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