{"id":155548,"date":"2026-04-16T17:19:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T22:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=155548"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:19:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T22:49:46","slug":"ipl-2026-lungi-ngidi-hails-delhi-capitals-teammate-auqib-nabi-as-complete-cricketer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=155548","title":{"rendered":"IPL 2026: Lungi Ngidi hails Delhi Capitals teammate Auqib Nabi as \u2018complete cricketer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"


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When Lungisani Ngidi was picked for Delhi Capitals during the IPL 2026 mini-auction in December, the South African pacer immediately looked up Auqib Nabi \u2013 searching for and reading about the Jammu & Kashmir fast bowler.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started reading about him and his performances. He\u2019s done very well recently, and I was excited to meet him,\u201d Ngidi said in a select media roundtable on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Nabi took 60 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 12.56 and was the highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season, leading J&K to its maiden red-ball title.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I met him, I realised how skilful he is,\u201d Ngidi said, adding that he found Nabi\u2019s swing similar to that of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can swing the ball both ways, bowl yorkers, operate at a good pace, and also contribute with the bat. He\u2019s a complete cricketer,\u201d the South African added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy meeting players who are trying to come through the system and make a name for themselves. Those are the stories I really appreciate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old Ngidi has been part of nine IPL seasons since making his debut in 2018 for Chennai Super Kings, but has featured in only 20 matches so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my ninth IPL season, and there were about three years where I didn\u2019t play a game,\u201d Ngidi said. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating, but you don\u2019t select yourself. I focus on what I can control, which is performing when I get the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ngidi used that time to train and develop his game, while preparing for national duty in Proteas colours.<\/p>\n

He added that making his IPL debut under a calm captain like MS Dhoni helped him as a 21-year-old. \u201cHaving a captain who is calm and not emotional helps you stay composed. They backed me and trusted me. I opened the bowling in a final in my first season, so clearly they had confidence in me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ | From MRF Pace Foundation to IPL spotlight\u2014Charting Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain\u2019s meteoric rise<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

It was during the same season that he learned the art of slower balls from Dwayne Bravo. \u201cI asked him to teach me his variation, and he showed me a couple of things. It wasn\u2019t perfect straight away, but over the years I developed it,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

Eight years later, Ngidi has mastered that craft, using slower, dipping deliveries to trouble batters looking to swing big.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s one of my weapons. It takes confidence to run in and bowl it, especially trying to make it dip on a yorker length. There are times I\u2019ll get it wrong, and world-class batters will punish it. But when I get it right, it creates chances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Delhi Capitals will next face Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, an away fixture. For Ngidi, however, it\u2019s a return to a venue that was his home in IPL 2025.<\/p>\n

Asked if there would be any emotions playing against his former side, Ngidi made it clear that it\u2019s strictly professional.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThis<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my ninth IPL season, and there were about three years where I didn\u2019t play a game,\u201d Ngidi said. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating, but you don\u2019t select yourself. I focus on what I can control, which is performing when I get the opportunity.\u201d
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Special Arrangement\n <\/p>\n

\"lightbox-info\"\/<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

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\u201cThis is my ninth IPL season, and there were about three years where I didn\u2019t play a game,\u201d Ngidi said. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating, but you don\u2019t select yourself. I focus on what I can control, which is performing when I get the opportunity.\u201d
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Special Arrangement\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t take emotions into the game. When I play, it\u2019s purely professional; strictly business. I\u2019m representing Delhi Capitals now, and my responsibility is to perform for them, the team that has shown faith in me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a great time at RCB, and we won the title, but that chapter is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delhi Capitals has lost two of its four games so far and sits fifth on the points table. But Ngidi, while honest in his assessment, remains optimistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe games we\u2019ve lost have been close, and if we analyse them honestly, there were moments where we let ourselves down. That\u2019s also the positive. If you can identify those mistakes and fix them, you have a good chance in the tournament,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t predict the future, but we definitely have the squad to go far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Published on Apr 16, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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When Lungisani Ngidi was picked for Delhi Capitals during the IPL 2026 mini-auction in December, the South African pacer immediately looked up Auqib Nabi \u2013 searching for and reading about the Jammu & Kashmir fast bowler. \u201cI started reading about him and his performances. He\u2019s done very well recently, and I was excited to meet…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ngidi20and20Nabi.jpeg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgnRh4-EsQ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/155549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}