Who Is Shadley Van Schalkwyk: SA-Born USA Star That Ravaged India At T20 WC

United States of America pacer Shadley van Schalkwyk ravaged India with an excellent four-wicket spell in the teams’ 2026 T20 World Cup opener at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Saturday (February 7).

The right-arm medium pacer showed signs of what he had in store when he first came into the attack in the fourth over — Tilak Varma was dropped on his last ball. In the next over, the sixth of the innings, he got rid of Ishan Kishan, Tilak, and Shivam Dubey, with the latter two coming off back-to-back balls.

While Kishan miscued a full and wide ball to mid-off, Tilak and Dubey were both trapped by slower ones. In the final over, van Schalkwyk also got rid of Arshdeep Singh to make it four. He was the USA’s most economical bowler as the team restricted

India to 161.

“To be honest, it was a touch slow,” he said in the mid-innings break. “It suited my bowling, I would say. So with regards to that, I think we assessed quite quickly and went back to our skills that we can trust because we practice quite a bit. I think it did play a tiny bit differently. Touch on the slow side, yes.. I think so. I do think so. I think as an associate team, we do a lot of homework because we have to. I think we have to trust the people that do our homework and sort of give the plans to us. And we try to execute them. Today fortunately was my day.”

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All you need to know about Shadley Van Schalkwyk

Born in 1988 in Cape Town, South Africa, van Schalkwyk is a left-handed batter and right-arm medium-fast bowler who now represents the USA and plays for the Los Angeles Knight Riders in Major League Cricket (MLC), the country’s premier T20 competition.

As told to All Over Cricket, his early years were marked by limited success on the field. Despite earning selection for South Africa Under-19, he narrowly missed the 2009 Under-19 World Cup due to eligibility timelines and soon lost his first professional contract, making him seriously consider leaving the game.

He eventually rebuilt his career with the support of family and coaches. Over time, he became a dependable domestic all-rounder, featuring in 97 first-class matches, scoring 2,593 runs and taking 239 wickets, but never earned a national call-up.

Seeking growth beyond professional comfort and motivated by the prospect of international cricket, he moved to the United States. He made his T20I debut for the USA in April 2024 and soon became a key bowler. By the 2026 T20 World Cup, he had taken 18 T20I wickets and 17 ODI wickets, adding useful lower-order runs.