Cricket’s new Ntini
Thando, former Proteas fast bowler Makhaya Ntini’s son, is a star in the making. The teen has big shoes to fill but he’s up for the challenge
FOLLOWING in the footsteps of a dad who’s a sports legend is no easy task – especially when he’s regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers South Africa has ever produced. Masimphuthando Ntini is only too aware of the expectation that’s been heaped on his shoulders and he feels the weight of the pressure every time he walks onto a cricket pitch. Being the son of Makhaya Ntini might be a lot to deal with but he’s learning to cope with all the comparisons.
“This is my name and I can’t change it,” Thando says matter-of-factly. “The most important thing is that it doesn’t affect my game.”
And so far he seems to be doing a good job of keeping cool, calm and collected. Thando was selected for the national under-19 cricket side to face the West Indies next month in five-match oneday international series in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The 16-year-old is one of the new caps in the squad.
Being part of an up-and-coming team of athletes means giving up the things other teens enjoy – and dating is one of them.
“It’s not because girls are bad or anything but I had to choose my priorities carefully,” he says.
Makhaya adds that Thando – who at 1,9 m towers over his dad’s 1,75 m frame – doesn’t smoke or drink either.
“At home no one drinks nor smokes,” Makhaya says. “I want him to keep his head down and be able to pat himself on the back for what he has achieved at his age. Any father would be proud of him.”
But Makhaya – who retired in 2011 and now coaches the Zimbabwean national cricket side – has inadvertently cast a long shadow over his son.
“When I was selected for the South African under-17 team, people would say I was selected because of my surname,” Thando says.
“It was hard for me but I’ve learnt to overcome the fear of trying to prove people wrong.
“I just play my game. Now that they know what I’m capable of they must stop comparing me with my father; I’m still young and have a lot to learn about the ins and outs of the game.”
MAKHAYA, the first black player selected for the Proteas, in 1998, took 390 Test wickets for the national side – and this talent clearly runs in the Ntini family. Thando, an all-rounder who attends Wynberg Boys’ High School in Cape Town, has already amassed “countless fifties” and eight centuries in his school career, while his bowling best is 4/36.
The left-hander is modelling his game on that of Jacques Kallis, one of the game’s greatest all-rounders – but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t look up to and learn from his dad.
“Our relationship has always been very solid. He’s given me a lot of tips for playing cricket,” Thando says. “He taught me to nip the ball around, thereby creating pressure on the opponents.
“My father wasn’t known for his batting skills but the old man did get a few hundreds in club cricket!”
Thando, the only member of the national under-19 squad who hails from the Western Cape, dreams of playing for
the Cape Cobras and then the Proteas – something Siya Sibiya, the Western Province Academy interim head coach, sees as inevitable.
The young man is “a phenomenal human being with a strong work ethic”, he says. “He’s not fully developed yet but age is on his side. He’s a future player for the province and the national team. In him I see the next Kagiso Rabada or Wayne Parnell.”
THANDO’S talent began to show when he was a toddler in the unlikeliest of places: hotel corridors.
“My father used to take us with him on his tours all over the world and we played cricket in the passages of the hotels we stayed in – that’s where it all started. My father used to say I was a star in the making.”
Growing up as son of the great Makhaya “Mdingi Express” Ntini had its challenges but it was also a lot of fun.
He enjoyed travelling the world with his dad – Singapore and Malaysia are his favourite places – and he loves Lord’s Cricket Ground in England where in 2003 Makhaya was the first South African to take 10 wickets in a Test match.
“I wasn’t there at the time, but when we visited the pitch with my father years later, I saw his name in the hall. I was emotional, as I know what it means to my father.”
Of course Makhaya couldn’t take his son and daughter, Khanya (10), with him on all his tours and Thando missed him when he was away. It was hard but his mom, Tandeka (40), was always there to keep the family together.
“Both my parents were disciplinarians. We couldn’t go to sleep without an evening prayer,” Thando says.
Tandeka says Thando was a hyperactive child.
“But he got better and better as he grew up. We’re very close and he talks to me about everything, including his lovelife. But when it comes to cricket and sport, he talks to his father.”
Makhaya couldn’t be prouder. “I’m proud he’s building his own legacy. When I sit down with him I tell him you must live your own path, he chose what he wanted. He pushed himself to the limit to get to where he is today.”
And he’s only 16. Talk about a bright future ahead!