Follow UsSouth Africa’s off-spinner Simon Harmer, who has returned to the Test side in 2025 as a vastly matured and more complete bowler after years of county dominance with Essex, reflected on the long journey that brought him back into the national fold after picking up 4/30 in the second innings of the Kolkata Test as India folded for 189 in the first innings.
Harmer admitted that his turning point came from understanding how much expectation he had placed on himself during South Africa’s 2015 tour of India, especially in comparison with Ravichandran Ashwin’s sensational series, which helped India win it. He said that his mindset then was shaped by insecurity and a lack of experience.
“In 2015, I was quite new to Test cricket and Ravi Ashwin was bowling like a jet and I think he took close to 40 wickets in that series,” Harmer said after Day 2, as quoted by The Indian Express.
“The expectation that I needed to do the same, and dealing with that, putting myself under even more pressure.
“I made my Test debut against the West Indies in January that year in Cape Town, and then went to Bangladesh, and then here. I put so much pressure on myself to perform and to be that person. I was worrying so much about what everybody else thought of me — was I good enough?”
Harmer stressed that the years away from the South African setup, particularly his Kolpak stint in England, changed him significantly.
“I have always had a desire to compete at the highest stage, I am my fiercest competitor and my harshest critic,” he said. Signing the Kolpak deal, he acknowledged, was a difficult but ultimately transformative decision.
“Sometimes you have to accept your own faults and your own shortfalls. I don’t think I was good enough in 2015 and that’s why I made the decision that I made.”
A key moment in that period came in 2016, when he took it upon himself to return to India and work on his craft in local conditions.
“I came to India in 2016 to work with a coach in Mumbai called Umesh Patwal. I discovered a lot about spin bowling that I didn’t know. That was probably the point that gave me an ambition to get better and develop and become a decent spinner.”
Asked how different he feels now, Harmer said his self-belief has strengthened with experience. He also added that he has learned to judge himself by the quality of his spells rather than results alone
“Now I think I am a lot more confident in my ability. I was fighting for a place in the team, whereas now I feel like I have the skillset to compete.
“Whether or not it goes my way, as long as I can go back and say I put balls in the right areas, I can be happy with that. I am obviously a lot more experienced since the last time I was here, and I don’t have as many doubts that I had back then,” he added.