Ntini prepares to bid farewell in South Africa/India Twenty20 match
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Makhaya-Ntini-c73953, as it will be his last international appearance for the Proteas.
The match will be most important for Ntini who hasn’t played a match for the national side for the past few months. The ever smiling Ntini said, “I don't want to be remembered as a person who did A, B, C, D. All I want to be remembered as is Makhaya Ntini,
who played for South Africa. A guy who always cheered the boys up and see how they can do.”
Ntini had a wonderful career and played more than 100 Test matches over a span of 11 years for his country. He took a total of 390 wickets in Tests and became the second highest wicket-taker for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757. The record for the highest wickets for South
Africa in Tests belongs to Shaun Pollock.
Ntini said that he would have loved to overtake Pollock’s record, but considered himself very lucky to be given an opportunity to represent the team one last time. He said, “You wish to end on a good note, especially at your home ground. I think what Cricket
South Africa (CSA) has done, given me an opportunity to say goodbye to people of South Africa and the world - it is going to be a full stadium, and it will be televised all over the world. For me to be a part of that and say goodbye - because they love me,
they share every moment with me - will be a great moment.”
More than anything, Ntini rates his debut as the best moment of his career. He stated, “For each and every cricketer, if you want to play for your country, the first highlight is getting the cap, the green-and-gold cap. That for me stands out. Whatever I
might have achieved after that, my aim was to wear that green-and-gold cap.”
He was also asked whether he would be emotional or not about playing his final match, but Ntini said that he would enjoy being there and representing his team. He said that he was not one of those players who cried while bidding farewell to the sport.
The fast bowler said that he loved every single time he played for his country and that his love for cricket would never end. Ntini still plans to continue playing domestic cricket, and he also hinted at playing for at-least seven more years for his domestic
side.
Ntini has been a great player for South Africa over the years and will always be remembered as a player who cheered the crowd and the players on the field.
South Africa has done well in the shortest version of the game in the recent past. The last matches they played were against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 (UAE). The Proteas defeated the number one ranked team in Twenty20 cricket by a convincing margin
of 2-0.
The home team has rested some of the key players including Jacques Kallis, who was the leading run-scorer in the three-match Test series. Kallis sustained an injury during the final Test of the series, but the decision to rest Kallis for the Twenty20 against
India was taken prior to the start of the final Test.
The run machine for South Africa in Tests and one-day internationals (ODI) Hashim Amla will also feature in the match tomorrow. Amla will be looking forward to impress the selectors in the shortest version of the game, just as he has done in other formats.
Ntini will be looking forward to putting in a good performance in the match and ending his career on a high.
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