Marco Jansen

Age: 26y 181d
Bats: Right-hand
Bowls: Left-arm fast

Age: 26y 181d
Bats: Right-hand
Bowls: Left-arm fast

Marco Jansen comes from South Africa's North West province, and he and his twin brother Duan were both coached by their father, Koos. That family investment paid off in 2018, when India toured and the two brothers were invited to bowl to the visitors in the nets at the Wanderers. At just 17, Marco caught the attention of Virat Kohli, an early sign of how quickly his career would accelerate. He was making a name for himself in domestic cricket while still in his teens.

Very tall and able to bowl regularly at around 140 kilometres per hour, Jansen combines pace with a useful, hard-hitting approach at the crease. His bowling gives batters plenty to think about: he can move the new ball a long way in the air, and by banging it into the pitch he generates awkward bounce. Over time he added a fierce yorker and a well-disguised slower delivery. The one area still holding him back was consistency. He made his List-A debut in the 2017-18 season, and his First Class debut followed soon afterwards.

The IPL offered an important endorsement when the Mumbai Indians signed him for the 2021 edition, making him one of only a few overseas players to appear in that tournament before playing international cricket. Chances were limited that season, yet he had shown enough for the Sunrisers Hyderabad to bring him into their side.

South Africa included him in the squad that travelled to Pakistan in January 2021, though his first cap had to wait until the Boxing Day Test against India late that year. He was 22 or younger when he became a Test cricketer. Debuts in ODIs and T20Is arrived the following year. He joined the 2022 T20 World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured Dwaine Pretorius, and in 2023 he was picked in South Africa's 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup.