LABELLED a rising star during his South Africa Under-19 days, Andile Mogakane quickly learnt that hard work and discipline were crucial to success in professional cricket as soon as he joined his home domestic team the Dolphins after matric.
The all-rounder lost that contract, went to join the Tuskers in Pietermaritzburg and helped them move up from the second division to the top flight in domestic cricket.
His performances at the Tuskers saw him being roped in by the Gqeberha-based Warriors, a team known for sharpening youngsters and making them international quality, as they have done with the likes of Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen and Matthew Breetzke.
However, Mogakane did not have the best of starts in a Warriors shirt as he was dropped early into the domestic four-day competition after a series of low scores.
The 24-year-old took the disappointment on the chin, went back to the drawing board, and improved himself and his game.
“I struggled to actually find my role in that four-day side,” Mogakane told Independent Newspapers.
“Coming to the Warriors, I knew it was going to be tough for me to make the XI. But for me, the main thing was to improve off the field, and making sure that whenever I get an opportunity, I’m ready and I dominate.
“So, when I got dropped from the four-day side, I took it on the chin like a man, and I made sure that I worked on my red-ball game.
“Whenever there was a game for the Colts (semi-professional), I pushed myself to say, ‘Look, you need to dominate here’.
“There was a Colts game I played against Boland in Paarl and I scored a century there... I scored 130 not out and won the game. And we played a 50-over game the following day, and I also dominated there.
“So, for me, it was just a confidence thing. I always knew that I could play at the highest level.
“So, I didn’t really feel down about it, and it didn’t put me down. It gave me an opportunity to work on myself, my game, my mentality, because four-day cricket is not an easy format.
“When it comes to four-day cricket, I felt I was really in my box, defending balls where I could easily score off.
“So, for me, it was making sure that I stay positive and hit a lot of balls in the nets.
“It was just about finding my game – whether I’m an attacking batter or I’m taking it slow, where a few wickets have fallen and I need to dig deep for the team.
“Those are the things that I’ve had to work on in my red-ball game.”
The youngster showcased his maturity and skill when he batted at No 3 for the Warriors during the Cricket SA T20 Challenge.
He went on to score two half-centuries in the competition, and finished 11th in the top-run scorers’ list with 297 in 11 innings.
Congratulations Andile Mogakane on achieving your Best Batting T20 Figures of 77⚔️#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt#WarriorWay #DafabetWarrior pic.twitter.com/IVI9PI5zTD
From that competition, Mogakane was included in the SA Emerging XI that played two warm-up matches against the Proteas squad that toured the West Indies last month, and the all-rounder scored an unbeaten 58 to win one of the games for the Emerging side.
That Proteas team had seasoned professionals, including Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman, Andile Phehlukwayo and Wiaan Mulder.
Mogakane, who is currently working hard with Test coach Shukri Conrad at the Test camps in Pretoria, said he took a lot of confidence from that experience.
“There’s a camp I went to just after the T20 comp, where we played the Proteas squad that went to the West Indies... I played unbelievably well,” said Mogakane.
“It showed me I’m not too far away from where I want to be. I mean, if I can play big and dominate those guys who play for the Proteas, it means I’m not far.
“So, when I got the call from Shukri to say they’re inviting me to the Test camps, it showed me I’ve been working, and that there’s still work for me to do.”