Published By: Saksham Mishra

Dwaine Pretorius, making the variations work

Seam bowling all rounder Dwaine Pretorius has made the most of the limited opportunities by bringing in a lot of variations in his bowling.

Breaking the selection door down

If you looked at it a year ago, you wouldn't necessarily have pictured Dwaine Pretorius in South Africa's best XI in the T20 World Cup.

However, he worked hard on his game and ended up playing all of South Africa's five matches in the super 12 stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup.

The pace bowler was the highest wicket taker for South Africa, joint with Anrich Nortje, as he took 9 wickets from five matches at an average of 11.22 and an economy rate of 6.8.

Pursuit of unpredictability

The fact that he bowled most of his overs at the death and still managed an economy rate of under 7 is sensational.

"The danger at the death is being predictable so I'm trying to vary my pace and my lengths quite a bit, even though my line is the same," Pretorius said. "I'm trying to keep the guys guessing and trying to make sure I am bowling to their guys' plan Cs and Ds instead of their plan A. It's not an ego battle out there, it's trying to be as effective as possible. I am willing to do that ugly job. It doesn't necessarily always have to look the prettiest but it's effective. And I have built my whole career on that."

"I worked a lot on different variations of slower balls. In the T20 World Cup, if you've only got one option, you'd be in trouble so I am really trying to mix it up. Even though the line may be predictable, you are still not sure which ball is going to come out. Having five options is something that I have really worked hard on," he said. "You try and prepare for every situation you may be thrown into. That's my secret at the moment: trying to make sure that I am prepared for any situation."

Lending balance

There are a lot of batting all rounders going around but it is a bowling all rounder who really gives balance to a side as he can not only chip in with a few crucial runs but is almost as good as a frontline bowler.

In T20 cricket, if your bowling allrounder has the ability to bowl at the death as well, what more can you ask for?