South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada has had a pretty good 2019 so far. He has picked up 44 wickets at an average of 28.65 across the three formats of the game. But with Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer’s growing popularity, Rabada has been slightly overshadowed, despite being the fourth-highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers.
That happened partly due to South Africa’s dismal performance in the 2019 World Cup. The 24-year-old said that there are many “ups and downs” while “maintaining a career,” and also, he may be “disappointed” with the Proteas’ World Cup performance, but not “angry.”
“It’s never easy maintaining a career; I’ve learned that there are a lot of ups and downs. I want to be the best in the world, everybody does,” Rabada told iol.co.za. “You are naturally going to compete in that fashion, I’m not too worried, I’m feeling nice and easy.”
“I’m disappointed, not angry (about the World Cup). What do I do with anger? When a setback comes you want to be determined, you don’t want to change a lot of things. It’s about seeing where you went wrong and then putting in extra work.”
Just a couple of months away from completing five years in international cricket, the quickie has claimed 176 wickets in Tests at an average of 21.77 and a strike rate of 38.8. In the limited-overs formats, he has added 117 ODI wickets at 27.34, and a total of 25 wickets in 19 T20 Internationals to his name.
Though the spotlight is currently on Bumrah and Archer, Rabada is solely focused on improving his performance.
When asked about the two successful seamers, this is what the Proteas pacer had to say –
“I admire those bowlers, they are good bowlers. However, the media hypes certain players, and that’s OK; I know I have been playing very well. Archer is such a natural talent; Bumrah is doing wonders and that can force you to lift your game. You are not always at the top, that’s one thing I can tell you.”
Earlier, the Proteas speedster had blamed the “terrible” pitches for South Africa’s loss to the hosts in the three-match Test series during their last tour of India.
South Africa will face India on the latter’s home soil in three T20Is getting underway from September 15, followed by three Tests, starting October 2.
