A hard-hitting right-hander, who is also handy as a seam bowler, Theunis de Bruyn has emerged as one of South Africa's most promising cricketers in the post-Graeme Smith era.

De Bruyn came to prominence as a schoolboy, when he was named under-17 player of the tournament in 2010, where his 269 for Northerns against Free State was one of the highlights. He played for South Africa's Under-19 side at the 2012 age-group World Cup, alongside Quinton de Kock, and finished as the team's third highest run-scorer.

A hip operation paused his progress in the two years that followed but his potential was not forgotten and he made his T20 debut for the Titans franchise before he had played any provincial cricket. He also played for his university side - Tuks - and led it to the Campus Cricket World Finals, a competition in which he was also named player of the series.

De Bruyn made his first-class franchise debut after just four matches for his provincial side and established himself as one of the Titans' most reliable players in all formats. In the 2014/15 season, he led their run charts in the triumphant one-day cup campaign. The following season, he was the second highest run-scorer for the Titans in the 20-over competition and third highest run-scorer in the first-class competition with 602 runs at 37.62. His consistency earned him a call up to the South Africa A side. He moved from the Titans to the Knights for the 2016/17 season and was named their captain.

De Bruyn also had an unenviable task in 2018 when after much excitement about Virat Kohli's anticipated involvement with Surrey for a short county stint, Kohli pulled out, leaving de Bruyn (who had five Tests at that time with a top score of 48) to replace the most famous cricketer in the world.

Firdose Moonda