'I view it as the pinnacle of cricket'- Kagiso Rabada recalls his Test call-up, says he remembers it vividly

After five years at the Delhi Capitals camp, Kagiso Rabada took the next step in his IPL journey by joining the Punjab Kings for the IPL 2022 this year. Rabada has been a formidable force for his team in the recent years of his career, and very soon he will be among the top names of bowlers that the batters fear.

But the pacer was not a cricketer from the beginning. His stint with sports began when he took up Rugby in school. He started his cricket journey during the Rugby off-season as he took time to delve into another sport. While he did not have cricket as his priority, it so happened that the sport chose him, and with multiple selections for various games, he started focusing on cricket with all his heart.

In an interview with the Punjab Kings, the Proteas player opened up about his journey as a cricketer and recalled his international debut when he was called by South Africa to play against Australia in Adelaide as he said: “That was the first game I played for my country and I wanted to basically show myself to the world and despite doing it in Australia, I remember I had no nerves and I was just free and all I wanted to do was just bowl fast.”

Rabada recalls his Test debut and opens up about his stint with PBKS

While his T20I debut was not a dream game, Rabada gained the limelight while playing against Bangladesh in his ODI debut as he scalped six wickets in the game, registering his best ODI bowling figures.

“My ODI debut was in Dhaka and I didn’t plan it but I got 6 wickets. That was amazing. Then the most prized one was playing Test match cricket. For me, I view it as the pinnacle of cricket. I remember it was in Mohali against India and I remember it vividly,” said Rabada, who scalped Virat Kohli as his first Test wicket in this game.

Rabada joined Delhi Capitals in 2017 and was retained by the team during the 2018 auction. He had to, unfortunately, miss out on the 2018 edition of the cash-rich event owing to an injury, but he returned back powerful in the following editions as he grabbed the Purple Cap for scalping most wickets in the 2020 season.

Sharing his views on his stint with the new team this season, he had some fond memories to talk about. “I just enjoyed watching the auction and also I enjoy being around this team. I think there are quality individuals on the team. I really enjoy what the team stands for and now we’re here, I can see the guys have bonded really well and I’m happy to be here. I’m looking forward to just being involved with this team because with every team, you make memories and we’ll certainly want to make good memories,” he added.