SA v ENG | Can’t let Test Championship table put unnecessary pressure on us, says Kagiso Rabada
South Africa’s leading fast bowler Kagiso Rabada does not want his teammates to be distracted by the unnecessary pressure of the ICC Test Championship points table, in which they are bottom-placed. Instead, Rabada has called on his teammates to execute their roles well in the Tests against England.
Given the dismal year they’ve had at the World Cup, the Tests against India, and the administrative chaos, the last thing a young Protea side needs is to be beaten down by their position at the bottom of the World Test Championship. Instead, 24-year-old Rabada reckons the focus must solely be fixed on rebuilding as they prepare for a four-match home Test series against England. The team has been undergoing intensive training at the hub in Pretoria, keen on breaking their run of five consecutive Test defeats and begin a new era.
"The ICC Test Championship can put unnecessary pressure on us right now. We shouldn't really be looking at that. Yes, we don't have any points and it does look quite bad. But if we can focus on what we want to do, that should look after itself,” Rabada said, reported ESPNCricinfo.
"We hadn't been thinking about it, but when you mention it and you think about where we are on that table, it can get you into the mindset where you need to catch up on a lot of things. But at the moment we need to focus on the product and the byproduct will look after itself."
With an overhaul of the coaching and management staff in the space of a week — Graeme Smith as acting director of cricket, Mark Boucher as head coach, and Jacques Kallis as batting consultant — and a relatively inexperienced squad set to take on England, the key, according to Rabada, is to have well-defined roles for each player.
"We've got a challenge now as we're going through a transition phase, and we need to see if we can step up. We believe that we can. We spoke about where we want to go and where we're at right now, and I think everyone is on the same page, which makes things a lot clearer. We are still trying to define roles for each player to execute but it's a process and at the moment it's important for each player to buy into the mindset. Then, it's up to each player to pull a rabbit out of the hat,” Rabada added.