Marco Jansen has been at the heart of South Africa’s rise to their first ICC World Test Championship final in the 2023-25 cycle. Despite featuring in only six Tests this edition, the towering Proteas pacer racked up 29 wickets, his 33.17 strike rate bettered only by India’s Jasprit Bumrah among bowlers who have managed at least as many scalps as him.
With South Africa demanding the return of their WTC-final-bound players ahead of the IPL 2025 Playoffs late last month, Jansen had to leave an in-form Punjab Kings shortly before they made their bid for a maiden title. The left-arm seamer was integral to Punjab’s middle and death-overs bowling plans, finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker with 16 scalps in 14 games.
Jansen recently opened up on the bond that he created with head coach Ricky Ponting at Punjab and the former Aussie captain’s cheeky message for him as he prepared to leave India for Lord’s to take on the defending Test champs, Australia, starting June 11.
“Before I left (India), he (Ponting) just said ‘good luck, I hope you do well, but I hope you lose’,” the 25-year-old Jansen told ICC Digital.
Jansen, however, thanked Ponting for firming him up with a wave of confidence ahead of a momentous summit clash as South Africa aim to end a long ICC title drought.
“I learnt a lot from him, especially from a mental point of view. He is always positive, and he always sees the good stuff instead of the bad stuff, if it makes sense,” he said.
“And I think that’s why he’s a legend of the game, because you always lean towards what could happen instead of what could go wrong. For me personally in the IPL, he’s helped a lot in that regard, because he always reminds you what could be, what you can do and what could happen instead of what couldn’t happen,” he added.