Piedt rips through India top order in dream return from nightmare injury
NEW DELHI: The dream came true for Dane… again. Sport’s highs and lows exist awkwardly, side by side. The highs are far more palatable and draw a bigger crowd, even after the deed is done. The lows, however, bring loneliness and personal introspection.
While Dane Piedt jumped about and celebrated his return to the international fold, he took time to look back to where he was just over a year ago, when he injured his shoulder in the Champions League, 16 months ago here in India .
“I honestly thought I may never play again,” he smiled yesterday after his 4/101 in 34 overs.
Piedt smiles through most things, it’s just his nature. But even he wouldn’t have been smiling when his surgeon, Joe de Beer, told him his shoulder may no longer stand up to the demands of off-spin. After one Test? One Test?!
“I must say a big thank you to Shane Jabaar the ex-Proteas physio, and my surgeon Joe. It was very tough walking into Joe’s office after the Champions League, when the Cobras had been knocked out. He told me that it goes one of two ways; either it goes your way, or it goes the other way, and you don’t play again,” Piedt said.
The 25-year-old didn’t tell anyone that bit, that bit about never playing again, until after he got back into the Cobras set-up. That’s the thing with fear. It’s an unspoken reality, a beast confronted alone, away from coldly comforting eyes.
“That hit me quite hard, and I never told anyone that until I came back. It was a tough road, and guys came in and played ahead of me, so I knew it was going to be a long road for me to get back to where I was 16 months ago,” Piedt admitted, his dream debut against Zimbabwe seemingly a lifetime away.
“It was really hard on me emotionally and physically. Just to get back today and get four wickets, is really, really, a dream come true.”
He didn’t smile when he said that much, because it was as serious as that. The dream that had been realised in Harare had to be conjured up again and relived in Delhi. It was 16 months apart, so long that he felt like he had to start all over again.
“To be honest, I felt more nervous in this game than my debut. It’s because everyone had seen the 8/152, and I guess there was an expectation. Plus the occasion, being in India, where the ball turns… there was a lot of pressure.”
He didn’t bowl like a man who was nervous, except a full toss he offered to Shikhar Dhawan early on. Once Piedt settled, though, he found that old rhythm and gave the Proteas the control that they have craved all series long with the turning ball.
“I was just so happy to be out there bowling. It’s fun, man. I love bowling, and not being able to do it for a long time was hard. Then you have the crowd here, who cheer for everything – it’s a dream, man,” he said.
The smile was back by then, as Piedt’s day was done. It had gone better than he had thought, and he had looked like a threat all day. So much so that captain Hashim Amla gave him 34 overs on a first day. “It’s hard to say no when Hashim asks! I am a bit tired, but all that work we did with the trainers, and all the bowling in nets has prepared me for this. I’ll take being tired, because it means I am playing,” he said.
It was almost even better, as he induced the edge from Ajinkya Rahane, only to see it dropped by his skipper at slip. But that didn’t dampen his day.
“Obviously, missing out on five wickets, it’s natural for any bowler to be disappointed. But the sun comes up again tomorrow, and we will compete and try to get the last three wickets,” Piedt added.
What excited Piedt more about that passage of play was that it was a plan, a similar plan to the one that saw him get Cheteshwar Pujara out. Slowly, ball by ball, he dragged the batsmen across the crease and then bowled a flatter ball that went straight on, from around the wicket. Pujara was snaffled by Amla, but Rahane got away.
“It was a plan, and it is great to see it coming together,” said Piedt.
It is something that he has picked up from watching India’s Ravichandran Ashwin. The same applies for setting in-out fields, which keep it tight, but also nullify a release shot from the batsmen.
Piedt is picking up subtleties that you can only pick up in India, and he is doing it quickly. “We have a guy in our team called AB de Villiers, who I consider to be the best player of spin in the world. It’s really nice going up against him in the net sessions, it helps my skill, and makes me a better bowler,” he explained.
“Coming here with the (SA) A side really gave me a lot of confidence going forward, because I knew that I was close to my best,” he smiled. “Now I have showed my ability to stop the game and to take wickets, which is what we are looking for as a team. For me, I am just enjoying every moment representing my country, and doing my best.”
Yes, the smile is back, and he hopes it is there to stay. The highs, they are always far more palatable than the lows. Having experienced both, in a two-Test career that has spanned 16 months, Piedt knows which side he would rather be on.