'He was constantly fighting for his life in that team' - Thando Ntini reveals how father Makhaya was battling racism in South Africa team

Thando Ntini, son of the legendary South African pacer Makhaya Ntini, has spoken about his father's racist encounters in the national team. Makhaya Ntini is one of the greatest pacers produced by the Rainbow Nation. The 46-year-old played 101 Tests, 173 ODIs, and 10 T20Is and took 390, 266, and six wickets respectively. He played his last game for the Proteas in January 2011 in Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The first Black cricketer for South Africa, Makhaya produced several match-winning spells and received plaudits from fans as well as experts. However, he had to show a lot of grit and determination to earn the acknowledgement and respect that he deserved. Thando revealed that his father does not share his experiences with the national team with too much enthusiasm as he faced exclusions and isolation within the team on grounds of racism.

"He was constantly fighting for his life in that team, every day. Being the only (black) guy there, it sucks to hear [when he says] he can how many times he was invited to a dinner with the gents…..Even though he was good enough," Thando revealed on "The Load Shed" podcast.

Thando, who has played 21 first-class matches, said that he has also been subjected to racial discrimination and shared an incident which almost barred him from participating in an Under-19 camp.

When Makhaya Ntini shared his horrifying racist encounters

In 2020, Lungi Ngidi appealed to the cricket fraternity to stand against discrimination based on racism. Shortly after this, Ntini came up with some shocking revelations of his encounters with racism during his illustrious career. He said he was ignored by his teammates and not even invited to dinners.

"I was forever lonely at the time. Nobody knocked on my door to go for dinner. Teammates used to make plans right in front of me, skipping me out. When walking into the breakfast room, nobody came to sit with me," Ntini had said in an interview with ''South African Broadcasting Corporation," he said. 

"We wear the same uniform and sing the same national anthem, but I had to overcome (the isolation). I used to see the driver of the team bus, give him my bag, and then I would run to the cricket ground. I did the same thing on the way back, I just ran back instead," he added.