Kagiso Rabada- A Passionate Fast Bowler
The genuinely fast pacer that bowls in the range of 140 – 150 kph, Kagiso Rabada, is one of the most talented bowlers that has emerged from South Africa. Kagiso Rabada’s age was merely 21 when he established himself as a potentially great right-arm fast bowler. KG is the nickname given to Rabada by his fans for his fantastic bowling. He had topped ICC Test bowler rankings and ICC ODI bowler rankings at the age of 22. In July 2018, K Rabada became the youngest bowler to pick 150 wickets in Tests at the age of 23 years. In the 2016 and 2018 Cricket South Africa's (CSA) annual dinner, he won six awards, which included the Cricketer of the Year award.
PERSONAL DETAILS
| Full Name | Kagiso Rabada |
| Born | May 25, 1995 |
| Age | 25 Years |
| Kagiso Rabada’s height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Nationality | South Africa |
| Role | Right-Arm Fast Bowler |
Rabada was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and his father is a doctor, whereas his mother, Florence, is a lawyer. Kagiso is the oldest of two siblings, and his little brother is following in his footsteps, taking up cricket as a career.
Domestic Career
Rabada made his debut for Gauteng in the CSA Provincial One-Day Competition in December 2013. He was then selected to represent South Africa's Under-19 side for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2014. He became the second-best bowler in the tournament and helped South Africa win the Cup. Rabada took 14 wickets at an economy rate of 3.10. He claimed the best figures of the tournament, i.e., 6/25 against Australia A.
His performance in the Under-19 World Cup captured the Lions’ attention, and he got to play the last two games in the Sunfoil Series, where he took seven wickets in two matches. Kagiso Rabada took 14 wickets for Lions against Dolphins in 2015, making a record in South Africa’s cricket franchise history. He joined Kent County Cricket Club in 2016 and played two County Championships and six T20 matches to gain experience in English conditions.
Kagiso Rabada’s IPL Career
The IPL career of Rabada kicked off in 2017 when he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for 50 million to play in the 2017 Indian Premier League . Kagiso Rabada played six matches in this season, where he took six wickets and displayed his bowling talent. In 2018, Rabada was again bought by Delhi Capitals but sadly missed the whole season due to a back injury.
Delhi Capitals retained this speedster for the 2019 season, and he bagged 25 wickets in the tournament, helping his team cruise through to the semi-finals. Rabada’s IPL journey with Delhi Capitals is crucial for his team as he leads their bowling attack.
Kagiso Rabada’s Stats
Batting Career
| M | Inn | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100 | 200 | 50 | 4s | 6s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 45 | 68 | 12 | 628 | 34 | 11.21 | 1379 | 45.54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 8 |
| ODI | 75 | 28 | 12 | 259 | 31 | 16.19 | 333 | 77.78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
| T20I | 26 | 7 | 3 | 37 | 22 | 9.25 | 39 | 94.87 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| IPL | 35 | 15 | 5 | 125 | 44 | 12.5 | 128 | 97.66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
Bowling Career
Bowling Career Summary
| M | Inn | B | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Econ | Avg | SR | 5W | 10W | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 45 | 82 | 8431 | 4719 | 202 | 7/112 | 13/144 | 3.36 | 23.36 | 41.74 | 9 | 4 |
| ODI | 75 | 73 | 3842 | 3199 | 117 | 6/16 | 6/16 | 5.0 | 27.34 | 32.84 | 1 | 0 |
| T20I | 26 | 26 | 577 | 819 | 31 | 3/30 | 3/30 | 8.52 | 26.42 | 18.61 | 0 | 0 |
| IPL | 35 | 35 | 804 | 1104 | 61 | 4/21 | 4/21 | 8.24 | 18.1 | 13.18 | 0 | 0 |
International Career
Kagiso Rabada made his Twenty20 International debut in 2014 for South Africa against Australian team , whereas he made his One Day International debut in 2015 against Bangladesh. He bagged the best figures of 6/16 in his debut match and became the second player to take a hat-trick on their ODI debut after Taijul Islam. Rabada made his Test debut against India in November 2015.
Rabada took 13 wickets by giving away 144 runs in England's tour of South Africa and helped his team win the fourth Test. By taking 13 wickets, he became the youngest South African bowler to take a ten-wicket haul in Test cricket and had the second-best bowling figures from the South African team . He has taken nine five-wicket hauls in Test cricket till now.
In the third ODI of the 2017 England tour, Rabada became the top-ranked ODI bowler by taking four wickets, replacing Imran Tahir . He became the youngest player after Saqlain Mushtaq to top the ODI rankings at the age of 22. Moreover, during the first test of the 2018 India tour, Kagiso Rabada became the top-ranked Test bowler by replacing English fast bowler James Anderson. He took 3/34 in the first innings and 2/42 in the second innings of the first test and sat atop the number one position in the ICC Test bowler rankings.
He won the Man-of-the-Match award for taking 11 wickets in the second test match against Australia. He is the fourth South African bowler to have crossed 900 points of the ICC Test Bowler Ranking after Shaun Pollock, Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn. Rabada surpassed the record of Harbhajan Singh and became the youngest bowler to take 150 wickets in Tests in 2018. He even became the third South African bowler to achieve this feat of 150 wickets in just 31 matches. Kagiso Rabada booked 52 Test dismissals for himself in 2018, which is the highest by any bowler.
The world knows and has seen what Rabada is capable of and he picked 11 wickets for his team in the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Rabada is considered as the torchbearer, hope giver and lead bowler of the South African team.
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