Connor Esterhuizen: Modern-Day Cricket Star Ready for Big Stage

Esterhuizen's stock has soared dramatically over the past month. The SA20 Rising Star was recently named Player of the Series in New Zealand following an outstanding performance on his first Proteas tour.

The Pretoria Capitals' batter shined in Aotearoa, leading to his inclusion among the rising group of young South Africans in the IPL. The Gujarat Titans signed the 24-year-old as a replacement for England's Tom Banton, who was a former teammate at MI Cape Town.

Amla has collaborated extensively with Esterhuizen, spending two seasons together at MI Cape Town before his transfer to the Capitals, and also working domestically with the Lions.

"When we met at the Lions, he was always one of those youngsters who was extremely eager to learn and to try new things. I think that's so important for anybody who wants to try and play all formats successfully. There's a type of mental elasticity you need to have to be able to go from format to format. That also has to come into your training and your ability to work with different plans. The switch between different plans has to happen quickly. From the time we met, he always had that eagerness to learn and to explore these things," Amla told SA20.

The Proteas legend, with 18672 runs in all international formats, believes Esterhuizen's capacity to absorb information distinguishes him from others.

"He's one of those players who, when you watch them early on, you think, 'Oh, he's got something.' His growth has been very quick. That is something very nice to see, because when someone is hungry to learn - like all youngsters - they will receive a lot of information. I suppose one of the skills you have to learn is how to filter the information you receive," Amla said.

"Once you experiment with it, you have to quickly understand what works within your game and what doesn't. His call-up to the national team was not a surprise because he did really well in four-day cricket, and he had a good T20 competition with the Lions as well.

"It was no surprise; he's one of those players who has been consistently scoring runs, so he was bound to get a call-up. I think he embodies the modern-day player. He has the attributes of the modern-day player. He's got a good technique, but he can hit a long ball."

After spending time at Surrey, a prominent English County Championship team, during the final parts of his playing career, Amla observed England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith's rise at The Oval and believed Esterhuizen could similarly succeed in international cricket.

"If you think of someone like Jamie Smith, for example, from England, he's also a very young player. When I started at Surrey, he was a youngster coming through, and he had similar attributes," Amla said .

"He had a good technique, was very strong, and could hit boundaries. That type of player now, you see them in Test cricket, fulfilling that role in the middle order where they can take the game away. Connor is, in a way, similar to that. He has a good enough technique-or quite a good technique-to handle a moving ball, but once an opportunity comes for them to score, it's hard to stop them," he added.

There has been much debate about the ideal position for Esterhuizen in the batting order. While at MI Cape Town, he was used as a 'finisher,' but with the Capitals, he was moved up the batting lineup. Esterhuizen has stated that he currently has no preferred position, and Amla considers this flexibility to enhance his market value.

"He's one of those players who we felt could play anywhere from 1 to 6. Even with the Lions, from 1 to 6, he can fit anywhere," Amla said .

"That's not an easy thing to do for any cricketer. You need to have a decent technique to be able to handle a new ball if you're going to be up the order. You've also got to have a strong middle game, which means you're going to run hard between wickets, hit gaps, and very importantly for T20 cricketers, hit boundaries - fours and sixes.

"He's got the strength for that. To find the best position for him, I would say looking at a No. 4 position might be a buffer between the top order and the middle order," Amla stated.

- IANS