Marco Jansen: A precious South African jewel shining brightly among one-format wonders

Marco Jansen (Source: AFP) 

In the current times for international cricket, teams are grappling with the injury concerns of their all-rounders and finding it an unresolved puzzle to have one proper all-rounder who can play across all formats. But at the same time, South Africa seem to have a 6 feet 8 inch tall blessing in their promising all-rounder Marco Jansen.

The Potchefstroom-born has been proving his worth consistently for the Proteas since he made his debut in 2021, at the age of 19. Since then, Jansen has been a vital cog in the wheel for South Africa across all formats, alongside being a game-changer in the major multi-team tournaments. 

Hence, here’s a look at the factors and aspects that makes Jansen stand tall as a proper all-rounder amongst his contemporaries who are struggling to do the same. 

What makes Jansen best among his contemporaries

Notably, in his short but impressive four-year-long international, Jansen has been one of the most consistent players for South Africa in the playing XI across all formats. Besides that, he has also been among very few all-rounders, who make headlines with their bowling and batting, be it in the Tests, or in the shortest format of the game. 

Compared to his contemporaries, including the likes of India’s Hardik Pandya and New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, the Proteas star has been way more impactful with his outings whenever the team is in a tough situation in either of the formats. 

Marco Jansen in Tests

Bowling:

Batting:

In his four-year-long career, Jansen has been more successful than Santner as a bowler in Tests, who has played more matches and has been playing for more years than him. Jansen has claimed 89 wickets in just 38 innings with a brilliant economy rate of 3.30, including four five-wicket hauls and five four-wicket hauls. He also bagged a 10-wicket haul in a match. 

Speaking of batting performances, Jansen has scored 624 runs in 32 innings, with an average of 23.11, hitting four half-centuries. These numbers are quite good enough for an all-rounder in Tests who usually bats below number five in the batting order.

On the other hand, Santner has picked 78 wickets in 54 innings of the 32 games he has played, with two five-wicket hauls and two four-wicket hauls. 

Marco Jansen in ODIs

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Batting: 

Speaking of Jansen’s impact in the white-ball cricket, he has scalped 49 wickets in 32 innings, with an impressive economy rate of 6.28, including a five-wicket haul (5/39) to his name. With the bat, he has scored 553 runs in 27 innings, with an average of 25.13, hitting two half-centuries. 

Marco Jansen in T20Is 

Bowling: 

Batting: 

Even in the shortest format of the game, T20Is, Jansen has picked 20 wickets with a bowling strike rate of 22.8, alongside scoring 179 runs with a strike rate of 140.94 and a half-century. 

India have a versatile all-rounder in Hardik Pandya but his ‘vulnerability to injuries’ has restricted him only to limited-over cricket. So, Jansen outshines Pandya when it comes to being a performer across all formats. 

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The impact in marquee international tournaments

Even in the ODIs, he also left a big impact with the ball, alongside some handy performances in the ODI World Cup 2023, his first World Cup appearance for South Africa. Besides that, he has also been very impressive with his performances in the Tests and T20Is.

Marco Jansen in ODI World Cup 2023

He was the second leading wicket-taker for South Africa in the ODI World Cup 2023, picking 17 wickets in nine innings, with an economy rate of 6.51 and a decent bowling average of 26.50. 

He also picked three wickets in the first innings of the ICC WTC 2025 final against Australia, including two big wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head. Later in the second innings, he dismissed Labuschagne again to pick a total of four wickets for the Proteas in the final.

So, it can also be said that Jansen could also have a big impact for South Africa in the marquee international tournaments like the ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup or the World Test Championship in near future and almost 8-10 remaining years of his career in case of him being fully fit. 

Conclusion: Silently filling the ‘Jacques Kallis’ void for South Africa

However, the young all-rounder has spent just four years in international cricket so far, but somewhere he has given the glimpses and hope to South Africa that he could be the one to fill the big ‘all-rounder void’. The same void that has been there in the Proteas since the former legendary all-rounder Jacques Kallis retired from all formats of the game. 

So, if Jansen gets to play for the same number of years Kallis did, and maintains himself less injury prone then former could be a perfect fit to fill this void for South Africa. 

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