Kagiso Rabada reveals that becoming the best bowler was one of his ambitions
South Africa’s spearhead Kagiso Rabada has revealed that he wanted to become the best bowler in the world when he started playing the game. The 22-year-old fast bowler has also acknowledged the fact that he needs to manage his workload in order to stay injury-free and play for 10-15 years.
Rabada is at the peak of his powers and is currently the No. 1 bowler in the ICC Test Rankings. He has had a terrific summer where he has played all 10 Test matches and has also taken part in 8 out of the 9 ODIs. In those 10 Tests, the 22-year-old fast bowler has taken 56 wickets and was also awarded the Man of the Series against Australia (he took 23 wickets in 4 Tests). A lot of people have added that Rabada is the best fast bowler in the world at the moment.
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However, there have been concerns about Rabada’s fitness and workload. By the end of the fourth Test, he did have a stiff back which restricted him to bowl only 3 overs on the final day of the fourth Test. Given that he is one of the first players to be on the playing XI, South Africa need to take care and manage Rabada’s workload.
“To be honest, right now I don't have answers. Something I have to think about and plan moving forward is how to have some time off. It is very important because you ultimately want to play for 10 to 15 years and you've got to have some sort of plan. You can't just drift through it,” the 22-year-old pacer said.
Rabada has been criticized for his over-the-top celebrations after picking up a wicket. He has been guilty of celebrating in the face of the batsmen and giving them send-offs, which has landed him in trouble. However, after his ban (for having a shoulder contact with Steve Smith in the second Test) was revoked, Rabada has tried to stay away from the batsmen and has been subdued in his celebrations as well.
“I don't think I always celebrate like how I did against Steve Smith. At times I just give it a casual celebration. Sometimes you are just fired up. I've made an effort not to get banned. You really need to think about what you do. At the moment if a passionate celebration is to come up, you need to really think about what you are going to do,” the No. 1 Test bowler revealed.
Rabada will play for Delhi Daredevils in the upcoming season of the IPL after the franchise used their Right To Match (RTM) card to buy back the fast bowler for Rs 4.2 crore.
