Nadine de Klerk aiming for a permanent place in South Africa Women's team

South Africa's young all-rounder Nadine de Klerk endured a major setback earlier this year when she failed to make it to the main squad for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022. Nadine was a part of the Proteas squad as a reserve player alongside spinner Raisibe Ntozakhe and batter Andrie Steyn.

In five years of international cricket so far, the all-rounder has represented South Africa Women in 16 One Day Internationals and 24 T20 Internationals, scoring 129 and 265 runs, respectively. She also has 15 ODI and 20 T20I wickets to her name. 

However, Nadine is yet to confirm a permanent place in the team, and she is often used as a substitute. The 22-year-old was gutted to miss the Women's World Cup games. However, she has now decided to divert her attention toward the coming leagues. 

"It's always hard facing those types of disappointments but at the end of the day, I have a massive passion for cricket, and I always want to work hard and become the best player I possibly can," De Klerk was quoted by Cricket South Africa's official website. 

"It was a setback, but you always just want to get back up and work harder. I am on my journey towards that and just really want to become the best cricketer I possibly can and manoeuvre my way back into the playing 11 and in the squad," she added. 

As De Klerk was a part of the Proteas World Cup squad as a reserve player, she watched all the games from the dugout. It was a new experience for the all-rounder to warm the bench throughout the tournament, as she labelled it as mentally challenging.

Notably, South Africa was absolutely sensational during the league round as they defeated some of the strong teams, including England, India, and New Zealand. The team reached the playoffs by winning five of their eight league games. However, their campaign ended following a 137-run loss against England Women in the second semi-final. 

"It was a bit different. I have never experienced something like that before, but the girls played really great cricket and it was exciting just to be there as well, to watch them play was something really special; the way they took on some of the best in the world,” she said. 

"You obviously have your mental challenges; I was just trying to tell myself to stay up and about and always bring energy to the team, and try and motivate and cheer them on wherever I can. It was lovely to be there and support the girls," the all-rounder concluded. 

Further, the 22-year-old revealed her future goals. Nadine is hoping to get some good opportunities to showcase her talent to the selectors and file a strong case for the upcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games and ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup.