Wayne Parnell was the most economical among the South African bowlers in the first T20I ©BCCI
Two players' careers came like comets, but only one has seen the whole of the moon. Might South Africa's T20I series in India be a chance for the other to glimpse the glory that might also have been his?
In Kuala Lumpur on March 2, 2008, Wayne Parnell walked out for the toss as South Africa's captain in the under-19 World Cup final. Alongside him was someone called Virat Kohli. Both brimmed with potential, Kohli as a batter as innovative as he was aggressive and ambitious, Parnell as a fearless, peerless left-handed fast bowling allrounder. More than 14 years on, Kohli has played 101 Tests, 260 ODIs and 97 T20Is, captained India 213 times in all formats, and will leave the game as a bona fide modern great. Parnell? Six Tests, 67 ODIs and 41 T20Is, and not a captaincy among them.
Their paths have crossed 11 times as senior internationals, all of them in white-ball games and most recently in a 2015 World Cup pool match at the MCG. Kohli was but a foil to Shikhar Dhawan's swinging sabre in their stand of 127 in that game. Parnell had Dhawan caught in the deep for 137, but that was just about all he got right on the night. The 85 he conceded in nine overs made him comfortably his team's most expensive bowler, and he was 17 not out off 28 balls when South Africa were bowled out 130 runs short of the target.
That was South Africa's second match of the tournament, and the only one that would feature Parnell. He was just 25, but it seemed cricket itself had given up on him fulfilling his immense promise. Injuries and a cold shoulder from the selectors added to that narrative. Even when he was fit and did crack the nod - in 30 more internationals before the current tour to India - he never quite made the breakthrough that would have put him back on track for the top, where talents of his calibre belong.
Parnell played in 18 of South Africa's 40 matches across the formats in 2017, taking six wickets in a Test against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers and four in an ODI against the same opponents at Newlands. But by then his successes were seen as surprises; a bonus, not key to the cause. He had gone from being the next big thing to the next bit of the puzzle of winning.
Parnell's contribution to
