India in South Africa | Debutant Burger casts a spell, indeed!

South African seamer Nandre Burger made his T20I, ODI and Test debut in a fortnight, taking 7 wickets in his first Test match & earning an IPL contract.

Years later, even Nandre Burger might find it hard to believe what happened to him during one fortnight in December.

He made his T20I debut for South Africa on December 14, three days later, he played his first ODI and then, another nine days later, he earned a Test cap. On his debut in the longest and hardest of formats, he took seven wickets to play a starring role in South Africa’s win by an innings and 32 runs at the SuperSport Park.

The 28-year-old left-arm seamer took seven wickets in the match. And he was on a hat-trick, against Virat Kohli, in the second innings.

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And yes, another significant thing happened, in distant Dubai. Burger was bought by Rajasthan Royals at the IPL auction for his base price of ₹50 lakhs. The management of the Jaipur must be congratulating itself after watching his splendid initiation into international cricket.

Cricket may have looked an unlikely career for Burger, though. He had gone to one of South Africa’s top rugby schools and was into tennis and squash. It seems destiny had other ideas for him.

“It’s a feeling I never thought I’d experience (to make my debut in all three formats over two weeks),” Burger said. “And my parents, sister and girlfriend were here.”