The people in India are a lot happier: Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada might not be the only cricketer to suggest that India is a highly happy country, despite the World Happiness reports suggesting else wise. He was terribly surprised when the reporters told that his home country ‘South Africa’ was ranked higher than India on the World Happiness Report.

Visiting India during the Indian Premier League might be a factor that prompted him to say that the Indians are jubilant, cheerful and loud whereas the rest of the world still varies in their belief.

“The people here (in India), I don’t know if I can say, are a lot happier,” Rabada said. “People in South Africa are happy, but people here, I guess, are ‘very’ happy. Like, South African people, they are welcoming, they just live their lives,” he was quoted by Cricbuzz.

“They’re very humble. India is very chaotic, in a good way. Does that make sense? It’s enthralling. South Africa is more chill,” he said.

Rabada’s perspective at the age of 21 is quite enthralling. His rapid growth and development in the game has made him what he is today. The South African was on the verge of choosing Rugby over Cricket as his passionate coach insisted him at the age of nine.

“The first thing I ever did was bowling,” he says. “They gave me the ball and asked me to bowl and I said okay. I also remember seeing Allan Donald on TV and trying to run in and throw the ball as fast I could. I couldn’t keep my arm straight.

“Then they told me I had to keep my arm straight. Then I did,” he smiled. “My grandmother used to watch a lot of cricket, so I remember watching him bowl fast. I then thought, ‘hmmm, I like that style’, because it was quick. I didn’t know his name and I just ran in and bowled as quickly as I could as I had good pace.”

Rabada was not a one sport person, he was good with a few of them. Adopting ‘fast’ to any situation was one key skill that the right-arm bowler possessed, given his involvement in various sport such as rugby, tennis, football and more importantly every event in Athletics.

His desire to play at the highest level was what motivated him to choose cricket over the others in high school. His Rugby coach was also the reason that the young Rabada got hooked up to the game of cricket, Mr Smith paved way for Rabada to pursue an interest in the game of cricket.

His first international game was no less than sensation, as the right-arm quick grabbed a hat-trick and a five-wicket haul against Bangladesh on his debut. The debut came right after the quick had created waves with the U-19 South African squad, finishing second on the list of leading wicket-takers with 14 wickets.

The economy rate column was astonishing as the right-arm quick gave away only 3.50 runs an over. He was soon selected into the squad for the longest format of cricket against India, where he could not manage to pile up the wicket column.

His real wicket-taking prowess was witnessed in the Test series against England where he ended with 22 wickets in the series. His best match figures of 13 for 144 runs came against the visiting English side.

“Over the years I’ve learnt a lot. You watch your game. You try and fix what you’re doing wrong and there will always be an area where you can improve,” he said. “It’s about being hungry and trying to learn as much as you can from anyone really.”

Rabada feels that his career has not been perfect yet. His ability to keep picking up things to learn on the field and off the field is what sets him apart from the rest of the cricketers. His keen interests in improving his game with the inputs from his national coach, his coach back at home and also his mentor Rahul Dravid at the Delhi Daredevils.

“That’s what’s happened throughout my career so far. I haven’t been perfect, haven’t been the best at some things, so you just try and work it out and keep learning to make myself better.” concluded the right-arm quick, who feels that cricket is one such game that his whole family enjoys, also adding that his life is not all about cricket.