‘Shows the strength of character of the man’ – Michael Holding lauds Makhaya Ntini for scaling heights amidst indifferent treatment

West Indies great Michael Holding has opened up on the treatment the former South African bowler Makhaya Ntini received throughout his career. Ntini was South Africa’s first black African international and had to deal with certain challenges owing to this fact. The former speedster had stated his struggles whilst contributing to Holding’s recent book ‘Why We Kneel, How We Rise’.

Holding’s book aims to share the stories of different athletes and their experiences of being victims of racism. The retired Caribbean speedster thus recounted some of the stories that Ntini had told him. The veteran stated that the Proteas bowler was treated in a way that he felt he did not belong to the group.

“We all know he was extremely fit. We all know the stories of him running to the ground. A lot of people thought it was part of his training regime. When he spoke to me, he explained to me the reason that he ran to the ground and did not take the bus.

“Because when he went on the bus, he felt as though he did not belong because he was treated as though he did not belong,” Holding said at Cricket South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings.

I am thankful to him to bear it out and still be so successful: Michael Holding

Ntini finished his illustrious career with 390 Test wickets to his account. His tally is the third most for South Africa after Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock. Holding, however, also stated that despite his impeccable numbers, he wasn’t considered as a senior player in the side. He further praised Ntini for having faced all of it and yet being so successful in his career.

“Makhaya Ntini suffered all that. I am thankful to him to bear it out and still be so successful. That shows the strength of character of the man. Hopefully, people will recognize, even those who did things like that perhaps did not recognize the hurt and the harm they were doing and the attitude that they had wasn’t right, hopefully, they will all learn and recognize their faults and their mistakes and they will be willing to learn and willing to change,” Holding added.