Riley Russo ‘will be at the centre’ if South Africa win the title
Cricket is said to be a game of uncertainty, and this uncertainty is even greater in South African cricket.
From Hansie Cronje to the rise and fall of South Africa’s star cricketers, many dramatic events took place during that time.
Riley Russo is the new hero of this drama.
Who was in danger by tweeting ‘chokers’ before joining the national team.
Eleven years ago, 21-year-old Riley Russo wrote ‘chokers’ in a tweet after South Africa were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2011 ODI World Cup, a term commonly used to refer to the South African cricket team.
Referred to by chokers who break under pressure.
South Africa never played a World Cup final in the history of cricket because it collapsed under the pressure – naturally this tweet was not taken well by the then South African Cricket Board, let alone the selectors.
South African journalist Firdoz Munda wrote in one of his columns, “Not many cricketers would even shake hands with Rousseau in a social chat.”
An era has passed, and Russo is now on the brink of another World Cup appearance for the South African national team.
In between, he also quit playing cricket for South Africa.
In 2016, the South African Cricket Board refused to play county cricket in England.
Signed the Colpack Agreement. It is an agreement under which a cricketer can play county cricket as a domestic cricketer in England.
But with Riley Russo back, South Africa have spent a long time in failure.
Especially in major International Cricket Council tournaments.
Now again hopes are gathering in the South African camp around Russo.
Cricket presenter and commentator Harsha Bhogle wrote on Twitter, “South Africa have a chance to win the World Cup and will embark on this mission with Riley Russo at the heart of it.”
Rousseau returned his ability
One of the biggest developments in South African cricket in recent times has been the return of middle-order batsman Riley Russo.
In 2016, Russo canceled his South African cricket contract and signed with England County Cricket before his career started.
After six years, Russo returned to the South African jersey in July this year.
On his return, he played an unbeaten 96 off 55 balls against England in Cardiff and an unbeaten 100 off 48 balls against India a few days ago in Indore.
Russo was such an impactful cricketer that he didn’t realize he wasn’t with the team for so many years.
On his return to the South African team, Russo scored 231 runs in six matches, at an average of 57 and a superb strike rate of 180.
Riley Russo has scored runs in all forms of cricket in the intervening years, playing one season in the Bangladesh Premier League as well and he was the highest run scorer in 2018-19.
Sebar scored 558 runs at an average of around 70.
Russo himself said in August this year that he has become a better cricketer after playing cricket in various competitions around the world for these six years.
“I have played cricket all over the world for six years. I feel I have become a better cricketer. I am grateful to be back in South Africa.”
Somerset scored 265 runs in one match in the quarter-finals of this year’s Vitality Blast T20 tournament.
Russo played an innings of 93 runs off 36 balls in that match.
The Taunton club won this match by 191 runs.
Many teams will be satisfied if they can score runs equal to this margin.
Russo scored 600 runs in England’s T20 league throughout the season, average was 50, strike rate 197.
At the same time, Russo has been unique in his display of power cricket and consistency.
Riley Russo at a glance
Riley Russo was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Now he is 33 years old.
He has played in the T20 leagues of Pakistan, India, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka.
He played 36 one-day matches and 21 international T20 matches for South Africa.
Russo never played Test cricket.
However, he played 108 first-class matches, where he scored more than seven thousand runs, with 19 centuries.
