Johan Botha is a retired South African cricketer who represented the rainbow nation at the international level from 2005 to 2012. Botha began his career as an off-spinner for the club, but he gradually progressed as an all-rounder.
Throughout his career, he played an important role for the Proteas as a crafty spinner and a lower-order batsman.
Background
Johan began his career as a medium pacer, which can surprise you. He once acknowledged that he could bowl over 125 km/h, but he switched to off-spin after national coach Mickey Arthur suggested it.
Botha drew the attention of the selectors after his success as a member of the South Africa A squad on a tour of Sri Lanka. On that tour, he took some vital wickets for the team while still scoring runs.
Debut
On November 16, 2005, Botha made his ODI debut against India. In the match, he bowled six overs and only took one wicket. He didn’t play up the order because it was early in his career.
Two months later, in January 2006, he made his Test debut against the Australians. Despite the fact that it was a test match, he only got to bowl less than 20 overs and only got two wickets.
Rise to Glory
Throughout his lifetime, Botha encountered a lot of ups and downs. His best work came in spurts throughout his career. He never took a five-wicket haul in an ODI, but his low economy rate made him highly important to the team.
Between 2007 and 2011, he appeared in 66 One-Day Internationals, recording an economy rate of 4.53 and 64 wickets.
Even during the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, he maintained an economy rate of 4.07 and was key to the team’s performance.
Club Career
During his career, he played for a number of different clubs. From 2012 to 2014, he was a member of the Adelaide Strikers. He’s also featured in the Caribbean Premier League and the Indian Premier League with a variety of clubs.
Captaincy
When Graeme Smith retired from the Proteas’ T20 team in 2010, Botha was named captain. He was also appointed ODI captain after the 2011 World Cup.
Prior to this, he had taken over as captain of the team in 2009 when Smith was hospitalised. In Australia, he led the Proteas to their first-ever bilateral series victory over Australia. Despite the fact that he was not the permanent captain at the moment, this is his greatest accomplishment as a captain.
Retirement
Botha withdrew from international cricket after the 2012 World Twenty20. He begged the board to let him out of his deal because he didn’t want to just ride with the team and not play any games.
He moved to South Australia and was named captain of the team almost immediately. In 2017, he began playing baseball with the West Torrens Baseball Team.