Shangase working to stay in the national side

Back in the national fold after an absence of more than two years, Proteas Women all-rounder Nondumiso Shangase is working hard to ensure she stays part of the team this time.

The Dolphins cricketer, who made her national debut in 2019, last played in Proteas colours against India in 2021.

The 27-year-old right-hand batter will look to add to her 14 international caps [seven ODIs and seven T20Is] when the side takes on Pakistan in three T20 matches before the three-match ODI series, all of which will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi, from Friday.

“It’s really nice to be back after so long,” Shangase said. “When they called to inform me that I had made the squad to Pakistan, I was shocked. I kept quiet for a second.

“I wanted to cry, but I managed to stay calm and thanked the selectors for choosing me.”

The off-spinner said the first call to share her exciting news had been to her grandmother.

“When I initially called her she did not pick up, so I tried again, but still no answer.

“I then contacted my cousin, who told me she was busy, but she could hear something was going on with me, so I told her but also insisted on speaking to my grandmother because I wanted to be the one to tell her the news.

“When I finally told my grandmother, we spoke about it and she prayed [for me]. They were really happy for me because it has been such a long time away from the team,” she said.

During her time away, Shangase never let her game slide, working hard behind the scenes with various coaches to ensure her game was still good enough to play at international level.

“When you get left out of the side, it is not a nice thing,” she said.

“I changed the way I was training because previously I went to training without a set plan.

“I was just hitting balls and my focus was more on bowling than batting, but when I got left out, I switched my focus to batting.

“I made sure I was performing well for my provincial team because I knew how important that would be [to getting back to the national team], so I did my best and here I am.”

While she acknowledges that Pakistan will be a formidable opponent, Shangase is confident in the abilities of the Proteas side to get one over their Asian opponents

“I achieved my best [T20] bowling figures [3/ 20] against the [Pakistan Women], so if I can better that against them it will be brilliant for me.

“I know they are not an easy team to go up against but we will do our best batting-wise, in the field and with the ball and hopefully we can get six [wins] out of six.”