Marco Jansen meticulousness, penetration and durability has made him different from other bowlers. His soaring height, and the high-arm action helps him get that zip and extract extra bounce from almost any surface.
Born and bred in Klerksdorp which is located in the North West Province of South Africa, Jansen has had a breakout series against an indomitable Indian team after stepping in for the injured Anrich Nortje at the beginning of the summer.
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Since then Jansen has enjoyed a successful start to his international Test career, claiming 19 wickets in the in recently complete Test series against India.
Jansen made his first-class debut for North West Province in the CSA 3-day Provincial Cup 2018-19. Until now, he has played 12 matches and picked up 52 wickets at an average of 20.51 and a brilliant strike-rate of 37.8.
He is also a very handy batter with two fifties to his name from the 21 times that he has batted. In List A cricket, he has played 13 matches, picking up 16 wickets. His T20 experience is quite low, having played only four matches so far.
The towering 21-year-old made headlines last year when he was picked by India Premier League side Mumbai Indians. Mumbai were the first and only bidder for the bowler and took him home for a base price of INR 20 lakhs.
When Jansen’s name popped up, a lot of fans were surprised to hear the name. Not many people knew about him at the time.
The only piece of information which was revealed at the time was the fact that he was from South Africa and that he has experience of playing four T20 matches.
During the 2017-18 season, Jansen was given an opportunity to bowl at the Indian players in the nets during their South African tour in 2017-18.
After Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri saw them, they invited him and his twin brother, to come and bowl at another practice session and since then India cricket has been keeping tabs on his development.
Owner of the Mumbai Indians franchise, Akash Ambani, revealed that South Africa skipper Quinton de Kock actually suggested Jansen’s name to them.
“We have been tracking him for the past two years. We’ve been having an international scout program put in the place in the last few years like we have had an Indian scout program.
This year he was in the Test squad going to Pakistan. We had a quiet word with Quinny (Quinton de Kock) and he said ‘you have to go for him, he is completely ready now’,” Akash Ambani explained in a statement.
Cricket was introduced to Jansen and his brother by their father Jacoubous Jansen.
According to Marco he used to play cricket with them in their backyard and he was the first one to teach them the games nuances as he was a sportsman himself.
“They are both very proud of us and they support us all the way. They have supported us with everything they could to help us in any way they could.”
Jansen is currently the youngest member of the Proteas squad at 21-years-old and when he made his Test debut in the first Test against India in Centurion he became the first Proteas Test player to have been born in this century, having been born on 1 May 2000.
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Standing at a reported 2.06m Jansen isn known as the tallest player to represent the South Africa in cricket.
He measures in as one of the tallest players to have played international cricket, with the record belonging to former Pakistan left-arm quick Mohammad Irfan who measured in at a 2.15m.
Vintcent van der Bijl was previously seen as the tallest player in SA cricket having measured in at a reported 2.02m, but he never played recognised Test cricket as he played during SA’s isolation years.
The rising star and his rise in the red ball format has been enticing to watch. He has lived up to the expectations and now instigates fear in batsmen’s mind.
His numbers in the recent games, which came in last months, are a testament to his augmentation as a Test bowler. He has adapted to the conditions and established himself as a Test bowler.
With age being on his side and the bowler beaming with talent, one can only expect Jansen to get better and script more records.
