And on Monday he made it a debut worth remembering as he finished with figures of 2/22 in South Africa's first innings at the JSCA Stadium.
Speaking at the post-match presser, the 30-year-old said: "It is a good thing that as a cricketer you are making a debut and that too in your home ground. I would say it can be a dream debut for any player who does it in his home town."
India's bowlers, led by Mohammed Shami, pushed Virat Kohli and his boys closer to a 3-0 whitewash as South Africa were left tottering at 132/8 at stumps on Day 3 after following on in the third and final Test at the JSCA Stadium on Monday.
At close of play, Dean Elgar's concussion substitute Theunis de Bruyn was batting on 30 with Anrich Nortje (5) for company.
Nadeem said that playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and first-class matches helped him a lot.
"When you play IPL and first-class matches, you have already played with many of these players and you know how they play. Before this, we played a series against South Africa A. So that is also beneficial," he expressed.
The visitors will resume their second innings from 132/8 on Day 4 here on Tuesday. Earlier, India had outclassed South Africa in both the first and second Tests in Vizag and Pune respectively.
( With inputs from IANS )
