Ind vs SA: Six-star Marco Jansen relishes rare success on Indian soil

At 2.06 metres or 6 feet 8 inches, Marco Jansen walks tall in top-flight international cricket. The beanpole South African quick had dismantled India twice at home before with seven-wicket hauls in his debut series, but there is a difference between doing so at Cape Town and Johannesburg and returning with figures of 19.5-5-48-6 on an old fashioned sub-continent track in Guwahati.

A six-wicket haul against the highly rated Indian batting line-up will remain quite a landmark in the soft spoken 25-year-old’s career, though his best-ever haul in Tests reads 7/13 against Sri Lanka when they folded up for 42 in Durban last year. Prior to that, Jansen stood out with hauls of 7-91 and 7-98 against India in Cape Town and Jo’burg, respectively, in the same series in 2021-22.  

‘’Once we saw there was some bounce and pace in the wicket, we tried to utilise it. It was a good day for the chaps, myself in particular,’’ said Jansen, who had to assume the role of lead pacer in place of an injured Kagiso Rabada or Lungi Ngidi, who has been sitting in the dugout after being flown in as an injury cover for Rabada. ‘’Not having KG was a big loss, so I was just trying to give my best,’’ the newsmaker of the day told the media later.

Jansen first struck with the fourth Indian wicket to fall — Dhruv Jurel — before which spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer struck to remove openers K.L. Rahul and Yashsavi Jaiswal just as they were beginning to look good.

‘’The spinners did a really good job when the ball wasn’t moving too much. There was a bit of pace and bounce in the wicket, which was nice. We were preparing to field for two days. Today was just about trying to do the job for the team. I still think it’s a good wicket. The ball is starting to turn now and the spinners are definitely going to play a role,’’

How satisfying was it to set up the Test match for his team? A candid Jansen said: ‘’Yes, I’ve always struggled with bowling in India whether it was white ball or red ball. I’m still jealous of people who get the ball to squat and nip back because yesterday was a perfect example when the ball was going over the off-stump because I am so tall. For a different bowler like KG, that’s like hitting the top of off-stump. I’ve always been jealous of those people where they’re a bit shorter than me. 

‘’I think that I’ve tried to learn what’s going to work for me what’s going to help me to perform to the best of my ability and help the team win,’’ said Jansen, who incidentally made both his Test and ODI debuts against India.