Just because you are black you should not be gifted opportunities, says Kagiso Rabada

Just because you are black you should not be gifted opportunities, says Kagiso Rabada

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South African bowler Kagiso Rabada feels players should be picked based on their skills instead of skin colour. He stated that the disregard of transformation targets is fine as long as every worthy person is getting an opportunity and also spoke about him being a role model for his countrymen.

The country’s cricketing body CSA had announced that the relaxation targets would not be considered when players are picked for the squad for the World Cup, or even when they are picked for their starting XI. The policy usually requires 55% of players in the team to be of colour, which comes about to nearly six players in the playing XI.

However, one of the very few black players in the team, the pacer said that the country had developed enough to disregard its procedure as long as the policy’s objective was getting fulfilled, which was to make sure that people of colour are not denied opportunities to showcase their skills and make it to the big stage.

"At a professional level, players should be picked on merit. For me, transformation is all about getting an opportunity. I feel that players or people should be given the opportunity as much as possible,” Rabada said in an exclusive interview to ESPN Cricinfo.

Not only is Rabada the first player to win six awards at the annual dinner organized by the Proteas Cricketing body, he has managed to do it twice including last year, where his prizes included Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year, among others. Having achieved all this at the age of 24, it is natural that he is a role model for people of his colour for he is proof that transformation policies work.

"You are seen as a beacon of hope in terms of transformation and all of that. People try and justify transformation by using players like us, using players like Lungi. Bringing that into the team, obviously if you are doing well and the team is doing well; those topics are going to be raised, and you are going to be seen as an example. I try not to get too politically involved although I know that there are people who look at me and are influenced by it, especially black children or black people. I know that. It is very obvious. But I do know as well that there are white people who feel the same way,” Rabada explained.

However, he feels very strongly about the cause of his people and is doing everything he can to make sure no one has to suffer discrimination, his most recent initiative being the setting up of a foundation. Beyond that though, the player believes it is all dependent on the skill that the player possesses.

"I believe in opportunity. You have to give the opportunity. From there players should get picked fairly. For instance, I've got a foundation coming up - the Kagiso Rabada Foundation. That is just going to give an opportunity. It should be like that in most other platforms, not just cricket. In the past, it was an unfair system. Right now it should be fair, but just because you are black you should not be gifted opportunities,” he remarked.

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