My mind is not on IPL now, my mind was on winning this series: Kagiso Rabada

My mind is not on IPL now, my mind was on winning this series: Kagiso Rabada: It will be great to play the IPL and it is something that I want to do in the future. How many times do we hear a cricketer speak like this? How many times do we hear a cricketer postpone his IPL appearance?

In a situation, where every cricketer wants to make a quick entry in the IPL, for obvious reasons, this is what the 20-something Kagiso Rabada, had to say in the press conference post the fifth and final ODI at Wankhede on 25th October, 2015.

Rabada had a very significant role to play in the ODI series. He took 10 wickets in five games with the best bowling figure of 7-0-41-4 in the final game.

His bowling effort throughout the series has been one of the key reasons for South Africa clinching the ODI series 3-2 after wrapping up the T20I series 2-0.

“The one that I really enjoyed was the first game (at Kanpur on October 11). It was pressure situation against MSD.  I had not bowled to him (before), but I knew what he was capable of doing and the amazing things he had done in the past. That gave me quite a bit of confidence, pulling that one (victory) out in that type of situation,” said Rabada after the conclusion of the fifth ODI at the Wankhede.

“It was great team effort in all the games. It was tough coming to play in India. We had not won a series here and made history today. India bounced back in Chennai. We knew today was a game of great magnitude. We came out with great intent.”

“It was a great series and it was great playing against experienced and magnificent players. It was a titanic battle.”

“I thought all the seamers bowled very well. There was a bit of bounce. I tried to bend my back a bit more, put extra pace. It looked a pretty flat wicket and needed to generate energy to the ball,” he concluded.

The 20-year old, Kagiso Rabada was first selected in the South African squad for the ICC U19 World Cup 2014. He became the second highest wicket-taker for SA, by bagging 14 wickets at an economy rate of 3.10.

His best bowling in the competition was 6/25, which he claimed against Australia. He also was labelled as the ‘fastest and most fared bowler’ in the tournament.

The performance of Rabada in the U19 World Cup earned him a place for the franchisee ‘Lions’ in the final two games of the ‘Sunfoil Series’.

He took a record-breaking haul of 14 wickets in a game against Dolphins, playing for Lions. This included a haul of 9/33 in the second innings. His performance has been the best, thus far, in franchisee cricket in South Africa.

His debut in the T20 Internationals came on 5th November, 2014, against Australia at Adelaide Oval. He gave away 27 runs in his quota of 3 overs and could not pick any wicket. However, South Africa went on to win the game by 7 wickets, with 7 deliveries remaining.

In the 8 games played thus far, Rabada has picked up 9 wickets at an average of 25.22 and economy rate of 7.82 with 3/30 being his best bowling performance.

In contrast, his debut in One Day Internationals was an eventful one. On 20 July, 2015, Rabada played his first ODI game against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur.

Winning the toss, the hosts elected to bat. Rabada literally ran through the Bangladesh top order. He accounted for the top three batsmen, Tamim Iqbal 0), Liton Das (0), and Mahmadullah (0) in successive deliveries (fourth, fifth and final delivery of the fourth over) at the team’s score of 17 runs. He grabbed a hat-trick and became the second bowler in ODI history, after Taijul Islam of Bangladesh, to do so on debut.

He then came back to claim a wicket each in the 8th, 29th, and 31st over of the innings.  He ended with impressive figures of 8-3-16-6 and won the Player of the Match award. Rabada’s performance helped South Africa win the game by 8 wickets with 53 deliveries remaining.

Having featured in 10 games, he has taken 21 wickets at an average of 20.23 and economy rate of 4.87 with 6/16 being the best bowling performance.  He has one ‘four-wicket’ haul and one ‘five wicket’ haul to his credit.

Rabada said currently his thoughts were not towards participating in the cash-rich Indian Premier League.  “My mind is not on IPL, mind is on winning series. It will be great to play IPL, something I want to do in future when it comes. I have a long way to go in my career. I am going to keep preparing well and make sure I can do better. I will push myself and will also be asking questions (to other bowlers),” the level-headed youngster said.

Rabada is yet to make his Test debut.