Lungi Ngidi has put in a lot of work on his slower ball and has turned it into his main strength. It is paying off as he delivers strong performances in IPL 2026.
Lungi Ngidi, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo, said that this ball is very difficult to bowl because even a small mistake can go wrong. To make the ball dip at the right time and land properly, a bowler needs full control. He also said it took him a long time before he felt ready to use it regularly in matches.
Ngidi also pointed out that if the ball is not released properly, it can easily become a beamer, which is risky and can even lead to being taken off the attack.
“Yes, it takes a lot of confidence to be able to run in bowl a ball and get it to dip on the yorker length,” Ngidi said. “It’s a brave ball to bowl. It took me almost close to a year to get the confidence to deliver this ball. If I get two wrong, and those are two beamers, I’m out of the bowling attack. So we’ve got to understand that, it’s not just the skill level, it’s the confidence as well, ” Lungi said.
Since adding this delivery as his key weapon, he has become a different bowler. In the T20 World Cup 2026, he took 12 wickets in seven matches and bowled at an economy rate of 7.19, which is quite excellent as batters were attacking every bowler.
In the ongoing IPL 2026 as well, in the match against LSG, he completely deceived Nicholas Pooran with this dipping slower ball and bowled him. He has five wickets to his name at an economy rate of 7.98.
He has also given credit to Dwayne Bravo, who helped him with his variations when Ngidi was at Chennai Super Kings in 2018.
In T20 cricket, scoring 200 runs has become normal, and even targets of 230 or 240 are chased now. Because of this, bowlers are under a lot of pressure.
They need to use different variations like slower balls, yorkers, and cutters. Without these skills, it becomes very hard for a bowler to survive in modern T20 cricket.
But for Lungi Ngidi, his variations are what keeping him in the game.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
