While he is back playing in the SA20 and not injured right now, Ngidi has missed 50 percent of the matches for Paarl Royals in the SA20 2025 season.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) snapped up the services of South African speedster Lungi Ngidi for the IPL 2025 season by bidding INR 1 crore for the pacer. However, they need to be careful about the injury woes that come with Ngidi as he was out of cricketing action since October 2024 with a groin injury.
While he is back playing in the SA20 and not injured right now, Ngidi has missed 50 percent of the matches for Paarl Royals in the SA20 2025 season. He was not included in the Playing XI for the final against MI Cape Town.
This may be a cause for concern for the RCB fans as they need quality in the pace department. With the likes of Josh Hazlewood also recovering from a calf injury, the time might be right for RCB to start looking for options if Ngidi is ruled out of the IPL 2024 season.
On that note, let’s take a look at four pacers that RCB can target if Lungi Ngidi is injured for the IPL 2025 season.
Saqib Mahmood had an impressive outing against India in the recently concluded T20I series where he picked up the big wickets of Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, and Suryakumar Yadav. He has a good height and can hit the deck the rush the batters with his pace, which will be useful at the Chinnaswamy.
In 83 T20 games, Saqib Mahmood has picked up as many as 111 wickets at an economy rate of 8.57. He could p;rove to be a handy replacement for Lungi Ngidi if given an opportunity by RCB.
Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq may not have the express pace needed. However, he has the smarts of a good T20 bowler and has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. He can also move the new ball both ways and has had experience of having played in the IPL.
In 18 IPL matches for the Lucknow Super Giants, Naveen picked up 25 wickets at an economy rate of 9.16 with one four wicket haul to his name. He could be a handy replacement for Ngidi and could bring variety to RCB’s pace attack.
It was a slight surprise that Naveen went unsold at the auction but he could return to make an impact in the tournament still.
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South African pacer Ottneil Baartman has been one of the fine and consistent performers in the SA20 league. Even this season, Baartman has picked up eight wickets from eight games. maintaining a healthy economy rate of 7.71.
Baartman had a sensational SA20 last year where he picked up 18 wickets in 8 matches at an economy rate of 6.95 and was particularly effective at the death. If RCB ropes Baartman in as Lungi Ngidi’s replacement, they will sort out their death bowling woes and also have a quality backup to the likes of Josh Hazlewood.
Mustafizur Rahmann is another bowler who has bags of IPL experience. He played a crucial role for the Chennai Super Kings with his variations last year, picking up 14 wickets from 9 games at an economy rate of 9.26.
Mustafizur’s variations have always been his strength and he could again bring something different to the table for RCB. With RCB needing to beef up their death bowling resources, Mustafizur can be an experienced hand to consider.
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