Kagiso Rabada impressed one and all with his pace the moment he began his spell in his very first game in India. He began touching the 150kmph and even went on to say that he had aspirations of touching 160kmph real soon. With each passing game, Rabada became the talk of the town and the one to watch out for in the future. Former greats, cricket experts and his teammates have spoken highly about his constant urge to improve and learn. In his very first tour of India, Rabada has for sure made a statement picking up ten wickets in the ODI series. The series win was like an icing on the cake for the young fast bowler. “It was a great team effort in all the games. It is tough coming to play in India,” Rabada said. “We haven’t won a series here so we have made history today. It was tough. India bounced back in Chennai so we knew that today was a game of great magnitude. We came out with the bat showing great intent and gave ourselves a good chance. We wrapped it up with the ball. It was a great series playing against some magnificent players, experienced players as well. It was a titanic battle.”
Though Rabada picked up four wickets in the final ODI, he felt he wasn’t in his best elements. A lot of work had gone into his performance he agreed. “I was actually not feeling great rhythm today. This pitch had a bit of bounce so I had to bend my back just a bit more, put some extra pace because it looked like a pretty flat pitch. You really needed to generate some energy through the ball. They make it a lot easier. I just tried to do my best to try to get the team to win.”
It is this constant need to win and be one step ahead of the opposition that is helping Rabada be on the right track. One of his bowling idols Dale Steyn, a few days ago spoke about how Rabada was chewing his ears and asking him the right questions. For Rabada, the whole journey was about finding ways to become a better bowler. “You are basically asking about their experiences; how they feel and how they have gone into the past while playing at the Wankhede or in Chennai. There is great experience around, the guys play during the IPL so they have got an idea of what is going on. If you are going to sit there and not ask them many questions then you would be a bit naïve. You are going to be naïve because these guys know a lot. It is great milking them and asking them questions because that is how you learn and you also learn through experience. Everything they have said has been absolutely nailed on the head in terms of what has been happening on the pitch.”
Even captain AB de Villiers couldn’t help but praise the intent and maturity of his young paceman. He even labelled him as someone who would become a great bowler one day. “He is knocking on the doors of greatness for the future,” de Villiers said. “He is young, has a lot of battles to go through; a lot of form changes up and downs and a lot of that. But there is a lot of talent there. He’s also easy to work with. He’s clear with his decision making and knows what he wants. He wants to be there and win games and that’s the kind of guy you want in the team as a captain. I am looking forward to seeing him grow into a great bowler one day.”
Rabada too agreed that these were still very early days in his career. “There is still a long way to go in my career. I am going to try and control the controllable. I am going to keep preparing well, make sure that I do the right things to make sure that I can even get better. I don’t know what my limit is so I am always pushing myself by asking questions as well. What I have learnt is that international cricket is great competition especially when you come to India. The intensity is very high each and every ball. You need to be on the button all the time. I enjoyed a lot and I have learnt to just have a high intensity at all times. It was a great challenge coming here. I knew it was never going to be easy coming to play in the subcontinent. I am looking forward to coming back.”
