Hardus Viljoen was born on March 6, 1989 and the broad-shouldered, strong fast bowler is an excellent pacer who has all the ingredients to become a top-level athlete. The brutal bouncers that he unleashes without any prior indication is considered to be one of his biggest strengths. He has got a lot more variations in his armoury which often outfoxes the batters. Apart from all of these, he is an absolute miser with the ball and bowls extremely economical spells which is great for T20 cricket.
Hardus Viljoen made his first-class debut in 2008 for Easterns against Eastern Province at Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa in 2011 where he ended up as the second highest-wicket taker. The Lions franchise set their eyes on the youngster and wooed him to represent them in the next season, Hardus shifted his base to the Wanderers. 2014/15 was the breakthrough season - topping the bowling charts with 47 scalps at an average of 23.02 which was enough for him to earn a call-up to the national side. In December 2016, he signed a 3-year Kolpak deal with Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Viljoen joined Kent County Cricket Club for a short spell in English county cricket in August 2016, playing in the final four matches of the 2016 County Championship season.He played for the Paarl Rocks in Mzansi Super League 2019
In December 2018, Kings XI Punjab bought him at a base price of ₹75 lakh after getting impressed by his performances in the limited overs arena competitions around the globe. He was retained by KXIP ahead of the auction. With 7 wickets in 6 matches at a poor economy rate of 9.65, Viljoen didn't have the desired impact playing for Punjab but he will be hoping to have a breakthrough 2020 season in the UAE.
The South African fast bowler made his Test debut on 14 January 2016 against England and took the wicket of Alastair Cook with the first ball he ever bowled in Test cricket and smacked the first ball he faced for four as well. The match turned out to be his only outing in the South African white flannels and with limited opportunities, he ultimately took the Kolpak route and parted ways with Cricket South Africa.
Hardus is married to Rhemi Rynners who is a Key Account Manager at Supergroup - Henkel and also the sister of South African cricketer Faf du Plessis.
