It was a night to remember for Kagiso Rabada on a chilly July evening as Cricket South Africa handed out their annual awards. Not only did Rabada claim a virtual a clean sweep of all the individual accolades, taking a record six awards, he became the youngest cricketer to be named the best in the country.
Less than 12 months earlier he was still on the brink of a dramatic introduction to international cricket, a virtual unknown with plenty of promise but untested at senior level. His rise to stardom has been impressive as the 21-year-old from Johannesburg is now firmly fixed as the next hope for the game in South Africa.
His first international summer saw him bowl the second best figures by a South African in test cricket, claiming 13 for 144 against England at Centurion in the last test of a disappointing series for the Proteas.
His One Day International (ODI) debut delivered a return of 6-61 against Bangladesh, including a sensational hat-trick in a dream start.
If what he produced in his first year with the national sides is anything to go by, South Africa can only savour what lies ahead.
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It is not just his raw pace that has batsmen hopping around the crease, but his skill with the ball. He can swing it both ways and also has an unerringly accurate yorker that has already got him a lot of wickets.
As the test team now heads to Australia for a thorough examination of their credentials and then host the mercurial Sri Lankans over the holiday period, so the scrutiny on Rabada will become much more marked.
The trip to Australia will be particularly taxing as the game is played as much in the mind as on the pitch Down Under and how he handles the verbal pressure from the home team and the local media will be intriguing.
He is on the cusp of taking over from Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander as the country’s leading bowler, having already led the attack when the pair were absent through injury against India late last year and England at the start of the new year, and then playing a complimentary role as first change to them as South Africa swept aside New Zealand in their brief series in August.
PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 06: Kagiso Rabada of South Africa bowls during the 2nd Momentum ODI between South Africa and England at St George’s Park on February 6, 2016 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
“A diamond,” says his first coach Ray Jennings, who brought him through the development ranks with a “don’t pull any punches” approach that many youngsters would have bristled at but Rabada seemed to revel in.
“He was always going to be something special but it took a lot of work,” Jennings says in his brusque manner. “The thing about Kagiso was he was prepared to learn and work.”
So much so, says Jennings, that Rabada’s appetite for specialist knowledge has become more and more intense the more he has succeeded.
“During the England series, he kept seeking me out to say we must have dinner, he really wants to speak to me. He is the kind of guy who wants to extract as much information as he can, to analyse what is going wrong and what is going right. I didn’t want to be seen to be interfering so I kept telling him I was busy, but he kept persisting. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
Rabada went to play briefly for Kent in county cricket in mid-year rather than the much more lucrative Indian Premier League because of the lessons the English wickets could offer his bowling.
Rabada’s performances mark him out as already a roaring cricketing success but his profile makes him much more than just a successful test and limited overs player. Along with batsman Temba Bavuma, he represents the future pool of talent for South African cricket as the transformation speeds up the process that makes the national teams better reflect the population make-up.
Unlike Makhaya Ntini, who was pulled from rural obscurity, Rabada is the product of the emerging middle class. His father, Mpho, is a doctor and sent his son to St Stithians College, an exclusive private school in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs.
“His first love was soccer,” jokes his father, who admits being amazed with the steady progression of achievements Rabada has made since emerging as the star of the South African team at the under-19 World Cup two years ago.
That his son is now a poster boy for the future of the game has not gone unnoticed in the Rabada household. “He does realize what his achievements do to inspire people, although his top aim really is to play as best he can.”
For Rabada himself, the last 12 months have whistled past almost like a dream.
“Ever since I was young I wanted to play for the Proteas, and it is amazing to be playing with the guys who were my heroes as a kid. It’s so cool to be with them. I’m just being myself. I don’t want to be like anybody else,” he said in one of the early press conferences on tour when he was put up to be interviewed by the assembled media.
This is usually a daunting prospect for players but every time he has done it since, Rabada has reflected a genuine enthusiasm and a level-headedness than tempers the heighted attention he has been subjected to.
“One matures quickly on tours because you spend a lot of time alone in a foreign environment and have an opportunity to find yourself. Of course I’m learning from guys like Dale Steyn but mostly I’m just being me,” he added. “I love this job and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
For captain AB de Villiers, Rabada is the real deal.
“He’s shown the maturity of a guy with 100 test matches and the pace of one who’s played in just one or two. It’s difficult to find all the right compliments but he has impressed us all. He is the future.”
That future is bright.
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