South Africa vs India: Marco Jansen stands tall with bat & ball to signal a glorious all-round future

Marco Jansen was the tallest man on the field, staring down from an imposing height of 2.08 metres. He was, metaphorically, the tallest man of the day too. Wherever India tried to run, or hide, or vanish, Jansen, or his giant shadow, would pounce mercilessly.

His long levers hurt the visitors first. Until he strode out to bat, Jansen had seemed like a redundant passenger in the bus, enjoying a free ride around the town. He was unseemly erratic with the ball in India’s first innings; he was unusually reckless in the field too, spilling a straightforward catch of Shreyas Iyer at point.

But then, that’s the gift of being an all-rounder — if one side of your game doesn’t turn up, the other side could redress the balance. Jansen was ineffectual with the ball; but would make amends with the bat, and then with the ball in the second innings.

After a great World Cup with the ball, #MarcoJanses showed his prowess with the bat, helping #SouthAfrica stretch their lead to 163.

How will #TeamIndia respond with the bat?

Tune-in to #SAvIND 1st Test,
LIVE NOW | Star Sports Network pic.twitter.com/zd6wc4BOhg

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 28, 2023

Perhaps, South Africa required Jansen the batsman more than the bowler.When the game resumed on the third morning, his team was just 11 runs ahead of India; with captain Temba Bavuma ruled out of the match; the lower order, without Keshav Maharaj, seemed slightly weaker than usual; the ball would hoop around in the morning, and a wounded pace-pack would put him through the meat grinder.

He was the soft target, the one Jasprit Bumrah and Co would unleash all their guiles and energy against to bundle out South Africa. In the gallery, Jansen’s parents were anxiously watching him; in the stands, the spectators were fervently praying for him to hang around and play the brave support cast role.

With so much riding on the young man, he produced a monumental 84, more than half of the 152 runs South Africa added on the third day. A fired-up Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj made him walk through a raging crucible. The latter induced an inside edge that trickled to safety; Bumrah kissed his outside edge only for it to fall short of wicketkeeper KL Rahul. The pace metronome beat both edges once each.

5️⃣0️⃣ For Jansen

Some exquisite timing from Marco Jansen to earn a 2️⃣nd test half-century for the Proteas 🏏🇿🇦

A beautiful innings from him 😍 #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/2fjoyFD4RN

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 28, 2023

But Jansen remained unfazed. He weathered the storm, with an inscrutable face hiding the emotion boiling inside him. His patience was incredible — he did not feel for the ball, did not fiddle outside off-stump, did not attempt those expansive drives he loves to unzip. He just waited, and waited, until the moment arrived.

It came in the form of Prasidh Krishna, whom he promptly belted for fours. From nine from 40 balls, he was 25 off 57, his runs beginning to hurt India. At this point, Rahul granted him a life. He latched onto the gift and constructed an innings which featured the nous and aptitude of a middle-order batsman than the flakiness and bravado of a tail-ender. In the commentary box, Shaun Pollock would keep emphasising that he is a more competent batsman than most people think he is. Jansen would prove that with a game that combined circumspection and brilliance. As the day rolled forth, the support cast would begin to don the lead role.

Making an impact

Even when Dean Elgar was batting, Jansen would take the liberty to hit boundaries. He drove Ravichandran Ashwin gorgeously through cover, showing that he is no slouch against quality spin. Most tall batsmen would look to drive from the crease, but his front foot strode out, the hands followed and the bat flowed to meet the ball crisply. At the team total of 360, Elgar fell. But Jansen continued to make vital runs, and shepherded his lower-order colleagues to 408.

India’s batsman Shreyas Iyer, left, leaves the crease after being bowled by South Africa’s bowler Marco Jansen, for 6 runs during the third day of the Test cricket match between South Africa and India, at Centurion Park, in Centurion, on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

As is often the case, the confidence with the bat spread to his bowling. He did not hit the peaks of his maiden series against India, but regained some of his lost rhythm. His action was more fluid, he was completing his follow-through, and getting movement both ways. He nabbed three wickets too — of Shubman Gill, when the latter was batting uninhibitedly, Shreyas Iyer and then Virat Kohli —though all three owed more to the indiscretion of batsmen rather than the supremeness of his craft.

But this was a performance that fuels Jansen’s growing reputation as a genuine all-rounder. He is not perhaps on the Jacques Kallis plane yet, someone who could walk into the side as a pure batsman or a pure bowler. He is still a bowling all-rounder. But he is perhaps the closest to a classical all-rounder in this day and age.

At 23, with a bowling average of 22 and batting mean of 20, his graph is on an upward curve. And with performances like the one at SuperSport Park — three wickets at 36, bowling just half as well as he could, and 84 unbeaten runs — taller deeds await the tallest man on Day Three.

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