Hardus Viljoen

Tall and skiddy, hit-the-deck pacer, Hardus Viljoen was one of the most talented bowlers ever produced by South Africa. The ability to bowl quick, using a barrage of bouncers, were his main traits. But in 2016, after playing just one Test, he decided to sign a three-year Kolpak deal with Derbyshire to put on hold a promising international career. 

He started his domestic career with the Titans in the 2009/10 season and after some impressive performances for the Titans, The Lions set their sights on him, Vilijoen, thus, made a move to Johannesburg to play for them at the start of the 2012 season.

Viljoen kept on performing heavily for the Lions, but was ignored by the national selectors on a regular basis, and that is when he decided to move to New Zealand to pursue his career, but decided to stay back in South Africa. The 2014/15 was a breakthrough season for him as the fast bowler scalped 47 wickets at an astonishing average of 23.02. 

His performances were enough for the selectors to pick him up for the national team. In 2016, he made his Test debut against England in the third Test match of the series and had a great start to his international career.

The tall and strong pacer hit a boundary off the very first ball he faced, and also took a wicket of Alaistair Cook off the very first ball he bowled at the international level.

Viljoen finished the match with figures of 1 wicket for 94 runs as South Africa lost the Test match and the series. But, Viljoen was eventually dropped from the national squad.

Despite facing the axe, Viljoen went back to the domestic arena and continued to perform heavily. However, with limited opportunities, he decided to sign a three-year deal with Kolpak and joined Derbyshire in December 2016.

After representing Derbyshire for a couple of seasons, his contract was terminated with mutual consent. In January 2019, Viljoen joined Kent ahead of the 2019 T20 Blast.

In the IPL 2019 auction, he was roped in by Punjab Kings for INR 75 lakh. The strapping fast bowler played six matches in the tournament and picked up seven wickets at an average of 31.71. 

Viljoen was one of the most promising pacers from the South African crop of great fast bowlers. He had a short lived international career, and no one knows how his international career would have shaped had he decided to stay back in South Africa.

(As of March 2021)