It will be fair to say that 23-year-old South African right-arm fast bowler Gerald Coetzee has taken the cricket world by storm due to his raw pace, aggression and eagerness to become the best in the world and when a legend like Allan Donald approves of his abilities, there is reason to believe that he is headed toward greatness.
In a recent interview with Rev Sportz, Allan Donald spoke on a wide range of topics, from the uniqueness of Japrit Bumrah to what it takes to become a successful fast bowler. The 57-year-old was also asked about Gerald Coetzee, the South African pacer who rose to fame during the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
Allan Donald, who worked with Coetzee for the Knights, a local team in South Africa, knows a thing or two about the youngster who is capable of making things happen with the ball. Donald did not hesitate to state that Gerald Coetzee would play a similar role to that which Donald used to play during his playing days.
Donald also believes that the sale of Coetzee to Mumbai Indians during the IPL auction for 2024 will boost his confidence and also help him improve his own game. Realizing that Gerald Coetzee wanted to play for South Africa as soon as possible, Allan Donald remembers pulling him back and asking him to stay in the present.
The only thing Coetzee needs to improve is the provision of fields with its bowling alley, something that will be developed sooner or later.
“He wanted to play very fast for South Africa and I wanted to get away from that a little bit and focus on doing well for our team. But it’s already arrived. “This guy has now announced himself in the Cricket World Cup.”
And of course, his signing for the Mumbai Indians is a great opportunity for him. He will be the one to be torn apart. He’ll be that guy: his veins will pop out of his head. When he takes a wicket, he loves it.” – Donald said.
“He will thrive bowling against someone like Rohit or Virat,” says Allan Donald on Gerald Coetzee’s potential
Talking about Gerald Coetzee’s future and potential, Allan Donald said that Coetzee is someone who will thrive and perform better against established batsmen like Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. He said it using an example from his playing days when he used to receive the ball whenever there was a dangerous batsman taking guard and sooner or later, Coetzee will also play a similar role.
“I think he loves to bowl with Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli. They love to play with the short ball, so I think it will be a very interesting competition because he loves to get involved in those competitions. It will be fire with fire. “My job was always to chase players like Brian Lara.”
“The moment he walked into the box, the ball came towards me and it was just a license to go and tackle him. And I think that will be Gerald Coetzee’s job: to be South Africa’s striker.” – Allan Donald concluded.
If we talk about Coetzee’s statistics for South Africa, then he accounted for 31 wickets in just 14 ODI matches with a very good economy rate of 6.48. In Test cricket, Gerald Coetzee has 9 wickets in 2 Test matches and in the shortest format, the 23-year-old has 6 wickets in 4 matches.
