A fast left-arm pacer, who comes hustling into the wicket, he releases the ball with a whippy, open-chested action action. His stock delivery is the one which swings into the batsmen at high speeds, called the 'Bender'. But despite possessing some very desirable attributes, Parnell has had an unfulfilled career at the international level - falling away from the top almost as quickly as he arrived, mostly due to injury.

Parnell burst on the scene by captaining South Africa to the final of the U-19 World Cup in 2008, a tournament in which he finished as the leading wicket-taker. He was soon drafted into the senior team for the Australian tour in 2008-09. Although his start was not auspicious, he was selected for the ODI series against Australia and for the subsequent World T-20 in England where he blossomed.

A Test debut was thus, just a matter of time, and Parnell got his chance against England in the home series in the final Test. South Africa won the Test, and drew the four match series 1-1, but with England clinging onto to two draws by the skin of their teeth, those who had called for Parnell to be inducted into the Test team sooner were proven right.

Acknowledging his growing reputation, Parnell was snapped up by the Delhi Daredevils for the third edition of the IPL for a neat sum of USD 610,000. Unfortunately though, he was ruled out of the tournament due to a groin injury. Thus began the agonizing cycle of performing, getting injured, going through the rehab, making a comeback, sometimes playing for the Proteas, then starting all over again.

With the emergence of Vernon Philander who rounded off an envious pace attack alongside Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, it took Parnell all of four years to get back into the Test team, when he was picked to play against Australia in February 2014 at Port Elizabeth. After just bowling around 8 overs and having picked up 2 wickets, he injured his groin again which did not allow him to bowl for the rest of the match.

Parnell did recover for the following month's World T20, and also featured in ODI series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe soon after. Facing stiff competition from the growing crop of pacers, Parnell only received limited opportunites in the shorter formats.

Making a sort of resurgence in the 2015/16 domestic season, where he was the most successful Cobras bowler in the One-Day Cup, Parnell kept himself in the fray for international selection. Barring the one against England earlier in the year, Parnell played every ODI series in 2016 and enjoyed reasonable success.

Apart from his bowling, Parnell also makes for a decent left-handed batsman. In fact, he's even opened the batting for the Cobras on a few occasions recently. Playing with much more composure, something which he admits to lacking in his younger days, Parnell continues to strive for consistency and making himself a regular in the team.

by Sagar Chawla