Proteas all-rounder Wiaan Mulder hits a ball into the covers against Bangladesh. FILE - Proteas all-rounder Wiaan Mulder pictured here scoring his maiden Test century against Bangladesh earlier this year. Mulder has been declared fit for the Proteas' New Year's day Test against Pakistan.
Image: Tanvin Tamin / AFP
Before suffering a series-ending injury in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Durban, Wiaan Mulder was one of the first players on Shukri Conrad's Proteas Test teamsheet.
Mulder had established himself as South Africa's premier all-rounder after coming back in to the Test side against the West Indies in August. He has made big contributions with both bat and ball since his return, scoring his maiden Test century in the series win over Bangladesh and taking big wickets with the ball.
Mulder has scored 268 runs at an average of 64.50 coming down the order in his last five Test matches, while also snapping up 10 wickets at an average of 18.20.
The hand injury he suffered in Durban also kept Mulder out of the first Pakistan Test in Centurion, and he had to watch on as another all-rounder Corbin Bosch come in and take four wickets and score an unbeaten 81.
Suddenly, with Marco Jansen also firing with bat and ball, there's a lot of competition for the all-rounder places and Mulder's selection isn't quite as straightforward as it was a few months ago.
But Mulder, who has been declared fit for the second Test against Pakistan at Newlands which starts on Friday, says competition is a good thing and will bring out the best in everyone.
"When I was younger, it would have affected me a lot more because you're desperate to be here but you're in a team like this, or maybe I'm at this place in my career now, where I don't want someone else to fail for me to get in," Mulder said.
"No one deserves it more than somebody else. That culture is so important for this team. There's a lot of extra noise that everybody faces when you play international cricket, and if we start picking on each other and hoping each other fails, when it's crunch time, I don't think we will win big moments."
Mulder says he finally feels like he belongs in the Proteas Test side after a stop-start journey in the early part of his Test career. A stint in County Cricket helped to take his game to the next level, and he doesn't feel like his in the team to "fill a spot".
Mulder is finally delivering on the promise that saw him make his Proteas debut at 19.
"I've had a couple of seasons in England where I've put in match-winning performances. I've got a hundred now at international level. I've got a couple of important spells where I've taken wickets and I feel like I'm a key feature in the slips for this team," Mulder said.
"There's a lot of good things that I can look back on and rely on when it's difficult out there to say that I'm actually worthy. I'm here to win a game for my country. I'm not just here to fill a spot.
"The word that's kind of been so hard for me over the years is potential and hearing that: 'you potentially could fill so many gaps, your potential is you can play all formats for the country.' Those are all nice things, but how I was going to get there has always been so frustrating for me."
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