We have often heard stories of sportspersons making it big despite ‘poor’ background. And here is a similar tale of yet another player doing well in his life while battling against all the odds. South African pace sensation Lungi Ngidi, who is part of the Chennai Super Kings squad in the Indian Premier League 2018, took to Twitter and revealed how at one stage of his life he along with his brothers used to sell peanuts by the roadside for a living. IPL 2018 Points Table

“Fun fact: There was a stage my brothers and i used to sit and sell peanuts on the side of the road,” tweeted Ngidi from his unverified account. Ngidi made it to the headlines after making his Test debut against India at Centurion earlier this year. In his debut match, the pacer picked 6/39 in India’s second innings and was instrumental in setting up a 135-run win for his team. The 22-year-old also walked away with Man of the Match award.

Subsequently, at the IPL auction, the South African fast bowler was bought for his base price of Rs 50 lakhs by Chennai Super Kings.

Unfortunately, Ngidi did not feature in any of the games for CSK and had to leave for South Africa after his father’s demise. Meanwhile, there is no confirmation whether the pacer will return to CSK camp for rest of the season or not.

Following his father’s death, on his way to South Africa, Ngidi was subjected to strip search at the airport and the pacer tweeted about it as well, “Just to top off my day.....a "random" strip search at the airport.”

With Morne Morkel having retired from international cricket, South Africa can look up to Ngidi to take that place in the team. And why not, he has already dished out some memorable spells at international level. He has featured in three Tests as many T20Is and four ODIs for South Africa.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2018 10:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).