OTD | Former South African all-rounder Robin Peterson was born in 1979

As a cricket player, Peterson is a talented all-rounder who hasn’t quite received the respect he deserves. Peterson bats left-handed and is a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. Peterson had a crucial role in both the South African World Cup squads from 2007 and 2011. 

Robin Peterson started his cricketing journey for South Africa in 1998 as he was part of the Under-19 squad. For South Africa’s international men’s team, he made his debut in 2002 against India when he was just 22 years of age. One year later in 2003, he made his test debut against Bangladesh. During the series, he scored 61 runs and took five wickets.

He was included in the World Cup squads for both 2007 and 2011, and when he astonished everyone in Chennai by dismissing the English top order with the new ball, he left everyone stunned. In the match in Nagpur, he played a crucial role in helping South Africa close the gap in India’s total. 

Despite making significant contributions, Peterson was unable to elevate his performance. He did poorly in the shorter formats as well as in the UAE’s maiden Test matchup with Pakistan. He lost his spot to Tahir again, who entered the second Test with a five-wicket haul. He hasn’t participated in the game in any capacity since. Peterson continues to play strange tests here and there. There is always competition between him and Tahir for the position of spinner. However, Tahir is the first choice and Aaron Phangiso is the second in ODIs and T20Is, thus he has entirely lost popularity. 

Imran Tahir’s rise means he will face a fierce fight to maintain his position. He tried to more effort to improve his batting, which would bring value to the squad. He wishes that his successes might encourage aspiring spin bowlers in South Africa. Robin Peterson played 15 tests and scored 464 runs and had an average of 50.37 in Test matches. He played 79 ODIs and scored 556 runs and picked 75 wickets with the ball. 

Read More: Former South African allrounder Trevor Goddard was born in 1931