Kagiso Rabada – The Young Speedster
Kagiso Rabada is a right-arm fast bowler who plays international cricket for South Africa across all formats. He is considered one of the best and deadliest fast bowlers in the modern era. He started his domestic career at Gauteng and made his debut in the CSA provisional one day competition in December 2013. Following that, he was chosen to represent South Africa in the Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup. He played a very vital role in making South Africa champions, where he was the second-highest wicket taker in the tournament, picking 14 wickets. He also had figures of 6/25 against Australia, which were the best in the tournament.
After his impressive performances in the Under-19 World Cup, the young fast bowler was given his South African T20I cap when he made his debut against Australia in 2014. Rabada caught the eye of the cricketing world when he made his ODI debut in 2015 against Bangladesh, achieving figures of 6/16. He also became only the second bowler in ODI history to take a hat-trick on debut. The 26-year-old made his Test debut for South Africa in 2015 against India. He became the youngest South African to take a 10-wicket haul in Tests during England’s tour of South Africa in 2015-16. At the age of 22, he was ranked No.1 in ICC ODI bowlers’ rankings and ICC Test bowlers’ rankings.
After making his presence felt on the international stage, Rabada was bought by Team Delhi in the Indian T20 League 2017 auction for ₹5 crore. In the 2019 edition of the tournament, he picked up 25 wickets, which was the second-highest overall. In the following edition, he picked up 30 wickets for Team Delhi and ended the season as the highest wicket taker of the tournament. His great fast bowling got him selected as South Africa’s main strike bowler for the 2021 T20 World Cup, though his team was unable to make it beyond the league stages.
Rabada was released by Delhi ahead of the February 2022 mega auction. Following fierce bidding at the auction, he was bought by the Punjab team for ₹9.25 crores.
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Kagiso Rabada’s Personal Details
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- Name
- :
- Kagiso Rabada
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- Date of Birth
- :
- 25th May, 1995
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- Birthplace
- :
- Johannesburg, South Africa
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- Height
- :
- 6’2”
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- Bowling Style
- :
- Right-arm fast bowler
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- Playing Role
- :
- Bowler
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- Teams Played For
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- South Africa, Delhi, Imperial Lions, Punjab
Kagiso Rabada’s Current Rankings
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T20 52
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ODI 13
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Test 3
Kagiso Rabada’s Career Summary
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- Format
- M
- Inn
- Balls Bowled
- Runs
- Wick
- Best Fig.
- Eco
- Avg
- SR
- 5W
- 10W
-
- Test
- 52
- 95
- 9908
- 5446
- 243
- 13/144 vs Eng
- 3.29
- 22.41
- 40.70
- 10
- 4
-
- ODI
- 82
- 80
- 4210
- 3522
- 126
- 6/16 vs Ban
- 5.02
- 27.95
- 33.41
- 1
- 0
-
- T20I
- 40
- 40
- 871
- 1245
- 49
- 3/20 vs BAN
- 8.57
- 25.40
- 17.70
- 0
- 0
Kagiso Rabada – Key Skills and Strengths
Rabada has emerged as one of the world’s best bowlers in modern cricket. His ability in swinging the ball both ways while bowling at 145 kmph has made him one of the deadliest bowlers in all formats of the game. He generates this pace with a strong athletic run up to the crease while staying well balanced. This helps him release the ball with the perfect seam position, helping the ball land exactly where he wants it to. To swing the ball both ways, it’s very important for a bowler to have a strong wrist position. This is the quality that Rabada has, which helps him seam the ball off the pitch and extract the assistance off the surface too. Being a big, strong man delivering at over 90 miles per hour, his ability to adjust his length has made him one of the best in the business. On fast bouncy pitches, his short balls are a nightmare to face, while in overcast conditions, he fancies taking assistance off the air, bowling full and swinging the ball away from the batters. His yorkers at the death are very difficult to play too. The South African fast bowler is also a master of the reverse swing with the older ball. These qualities make him a complete bowler in the modern era of cricket.
Kagiso Rabada’s Awards and Achievements
Here are some of Rabada’s key achievements:
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Rabada was the second-highest wicket taker overall in the 2014 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
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He became the youngest bowler, at the age of 23 years and 50 days, to take 150 wickets in Test cricket.
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He holds the record for having the best figures on ODI debut (6/16).
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He is only the second bowler in ODI history to take a hat-trick on debut.
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He is the youngest South African to take a 10-wicket haul in Tests.
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He was the highest wicket taker in the 2020 edition of the Indian T20 League.
Kagiso Rabada’s Indian T20 League Journey
Team Delhi bought the young South African for ₹5 crore for the 2017 edition of the Indian T20 League. It wasn’t his best season as he picked 6 wickets in six matches. Though he was retained by Team Delhi in 2018, he was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury. The 26-year old was back to his best in 2019. He played just 12 matches before leaving for South African national duty, yet picked up 25 wickets in the tournament. He was Delhi’s highest wicket taker in the 2019 edition of the Indian T20 League and second-highest overall, helping Delhi qualify for the play-offs for the first time since 2012. The following season, he won the Purple Cap for picking 30 wickets in 17 matches, helping his side reach the final of the Indian T20 League. He has picked 74 wickets in 49 matches with an average of 20 and a strike rate of just 15 in his Indian T20 League career. He will be playing for the Punjab team this season and will hope to get them the trophy for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Bowling Stats:
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- Format
- M
- Balls Bowled
- Runs
- Wickets
- Best fig.
- Eco
- Avg.
- SR
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- Indian T20 League
- 50
- 1140
- 1560
- 76
- 4/21 vs Bangalore
- 8.21
- 20.52
- 15.00
Kagiso Rabada: FAQs
He is referred to as KG by most of his teammates.
Rabada played under the watchful eyes of Ray Jennings while growing up.
Rabada grew up watching and learning from Wasim Akram and Dale Steyn.
The 26-year old likes playing FIFA on Playstation in his leisure time. Apart from that, he also likes playing the piano and listening to music.