Who is Nandre Burger? 5 interesting facts about South African fast bowler picked for India series
Nandre Burger has been called up to South Africa's squad for the upcoming T20I matches against India. Burger has never played international cricket before. The Proteas can hand him his maiden international cap during the upcoming series.
In case you didn't know, Burger is a left-arm fast bowler. He is a bowling all-rounder, who has played 40 first-class matches, 39 List-A matches and 43 T20 matches in his domestic career so far.
Before Nandre Burger dons the South African jersey for the first time in his international career, here's a list of five things fans should know about him.
#1 Nandre Burger has played for Joburg Super Kings in SA20
The Chennai Super Kings' sister franchise Joburg Super Kings signed Burger for the inaugural edition of SA20 earlier this year. JSK have retained him for the 2024 edition of the tournament.
Shedding some light on the all-rounder's numbers for JSK in SA20 2023, he bagged two wickets and scored two runs in five matches. The left-arm pacer had an expensive economy rate of nine, while his bowling average was more than 75.
#2 Nandre Burger is in a relationship with an architect from Cape Town
Burger was born in Krugersdorp, and he plays for Joburg in SA20, but his girlfriend is from Cape Town. Her name is Ashleigh McDonald. As per her Instagram bio, Ashleigh is an architect.
The couple will soon complete two years together. McDonald shared a lot of photos from their celebration of 'one year together' on March 27 earlier this year.
#3 Nandre Burger made his List-A debut under Devon Conway's captaincy
Burger seems to have some connection with the Super Kings family because he started his List-A career under CSK star Devon Conway's leadership. His first List-A appearance came for Gauteng against North West Province on February 26, 2017.
Conway was a domestic cricketer in South Africa at that time. He was the skipper of the Gauteng team. Burger bowled an expensive spell of 1/71 in nine overs and remained not out on six off four. His team lost by four runs.
#4 Burger once joked about participating in Master Chef show
In 2020, Burger tried his hand at cooking. He enjoyed trying new recipes and honed his culinary skills so much that he even felt he could participate in the Master Chef show one day. Speaking with Cricket World, Burger shared what he did at home and said:
"Doing fun things, trying new recipes cooking-wise, baking things, trying some healthy recipes, letting the inner Nandre Master Chef, Cape Town out! I have also been building a puzzle which took forever."
#5 Burger has dismissed Joe Root and Jos Buttler in red-ball cricket
Back in 2019, before England's away Test series against South Africa, the visitors played a three-day practice match against South Africa 'A'. Nandre Burger was a part of the home team, and he bowled an impressive spell of 2/101 in the first innings.
His two victims were Joe Root and Jos Buttler. He dismissed both of them caught out. The three-day match ended in a draw, with both teams batting only once.