T20 World Cup 2026: Marco Jansen reaps the rewards of expanding arsenal

The ability to generate pace and bounce is Marco Jansen’s natural gift, but the 6.8-feet-tall pacer’s subtler variations are a result of improvisation and relentless training.

Jansen dug deep into his bag of tricks and pulled out a delivery that he developed on his own to take the sting out of New Zealand’s innings in their T20 World Cup contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.

On the face of it, it was a slower delivery that induced Mark Chapman’s leading edge to the backward point fielder. The wicket drained the Kiwis of their momentum just as they were threatening to tee off.

“It is not a knuckleball, but it is not a back-of-the-hand palm ball either. It is a mixture of the two. If I bowl the knuckleball, you can see my knuckles, so it is easier to pick. So, I specialised my own version. I have also been training to bowl the normal off-cutter a bit better,” Jansen explained after picking career-best T20I figures of 4/40 that set up South Africa’s seven-wicket win.

The 25-year-old is diligently keeping count of the scalps his innovation has earned him.

“I have taken two now, since I started training. One was Ben Duckett, and tonight was the other one [Chapman]. For me, it was about getting another ball in my arsenal, so I would not get hit for a six. On a day when the ball was skidding on, the batters could still line me up.”