Adieu to Makhaya Ntini – An Idol for Black African Community

When we talk of South Africa the rainbow nation we talk of Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, gold, apartheid, nuclear weapons, picturesque countryside, crimes, HIV, vuvuzela, Lesotho, Hansie Cronje and Makhaya Ntini. My focus here is on Ntini the first black African to represent his country in international cricket. He rose from a very modest background to become a vital and distinctive part of a very lethal South African attack at one time. Although he has hanged his boots but he has left a legacy for his native Africans as well as every cricket lover to follow. And that legacy is an inspirational account of hard slog, success against intimidation, and never-say-die approach.

Makhaya Ntini styled his bowling action on legendary Malcolm Marshall and was spotted at a very young age by the selectors after a brief spell for Border. He was picked for the tour Down-under and played his first One Day International (ODI) in Perth in January 1998 and his first test match against visiting Sri Lankans two months later. His humble start soon looked promising when he took four first innings wickets in the final test of the series in England in August 1998. But he fell victim to a big controversy when he was accused and then convicted of rape in early 1999. This brought bad name not only to him but his community and his budding career came to a halt. He did not lose heart and won back his innocence through a hard-fought legal battle.

He came back and became part and parcel of the Proteas attack in all forms of the game. History was created when he took a 10-for at Lords in 2003 by becoming the first South African to do so in the home of cricket. He has distinction of having the best bowling figures for a South African in both the ODIs and tests. He was nominated as the most popular sportsman of the year for South Africa in the BMI Adult SportTrack Report in 2005 and 2007. His career spanned over 13 years in which he took 300 wickets in 101 test matches at 28.82 and 266 wickets in 173 ODIs at 24.65 apiece. In later part of his career he was not an automatic choice in ODIs but remained potent in test matches till he was dumped for good in December 2009. He played in his 100^th test match at Centurion in December 2009 against England which was celebrated across the nation. Although he wowed to fight back his place but realizing that his time was over he announced his retirement from international cricket on 2 Nov, 2010.

After retirement he is planning to wholeheartedly focus on his academy for upcoming cricketers especially of color. Makhaya Ntini Cricket Academy is located at Willows Cricket Club in Mdantsane, a town adjacent to Ntini's own village of Mdingi in East London. We shall no longer see his in-dippers and leg-cutters delivered from wide of the crease and his broad smile after taking a wicket but we will definitely hear the name Ntini from every one who loves cricket in general and Proteas in particular for a long time to come.