Kagiso Rabada may now be walking on water as a world Test champion, but the Proteas superstar has admitted there was a period in his illustrious career where he felt vulnerable.
The 30-year-old fast bowler spoke candidly yesterday about the mental challenges he faced within the first two years of becoming a national cricketer.
“I think it was back in 2016. I had a really good 2015. I made my debut for South Africa, but 2016 was going to be my second season. And normally by then, people start to figure you out, and that’s when you start going through a few challenges here and there,” Rabada said at his sponsor Red Bull’s SA headquarters in Cape Town.
“I remember I didn’t have such a good season, it was up and down the whole time.
“As a young player, all I wanted to be was the best, if not one of the best, and to contribute to the South Africa winning games. And it wasn’t quite happening my way.
“I think we flew to Australia, and it was my first time going there, and you hear how brutal it is there. It is pretty brutal!
“And I thought to myself, this is what’s going to define me. I don’t feel like I really belong here as somebody who I want to be on the cricket circuit.
“But this is what’s going to define it, this is what’s going to make or break it.
“I ended up having a good series, and I think there, I suppose I could carry on here.”
Rabada certainly enjoyed a special series Down Under in 2016, with his captain Faf du Plessis famously planting a kiss on the fast bowler’s forehead after his heroics in the first Test at the WACA ground in Perth.
The then-21-year-old never looked back from the 15 wickets at an average of 22.40 bagged across the three-match series, and has certainly raised his game whenever he’s faced the mighty Australians since.
His nine-wicket haul in the recent World Test Championship final at Lord’s, which earned the Proteas their first ICC silverware in 27 years, was Rabada’s latest Aussie demolition job, and he admits that the sight of the Baggy Green does get the fires burning inside his chest.
“They like to come hard,” Rabada said. “So, I think as South Africans in general, when people come at us, we go back even harder. I think that is just the way we are.
“If you look at a team like New Zealand, for instance… they come and greet you and say ‘How is your Mom? How’s your Dad?’
“And you think, these guys are so nice, and then all of a sudden… ‘Hey, we are a bit behind here. We better catch a wake up!’
“But with Australia, we just know. They send the heat. They will even go to the press and target someone.
“So, we’ll write that down, and then two days before the game is about to start, we’ll go: ‘You want to play. Let’s go’!”
Rabada also stated that winning the WTC final and claiming the ICC golden mace after a 27-year trophy drought was extra special, as it felt that a collective weight had been lifted off the nation’s shoulders.
“It was just a relief, like that mental block that you just go pass,” he said. “To see the reception at the airport was amazing.
“South African supporters are like die-hard supporters. They were extremely happy.
“I think now we can look forward. We celebrated for a few days. That was pretty fun. It was fantastic.”
Rabada will enjoy some time off as he has been rested for the Proteas’ two-Test tour of Zimbabwe, which starts in Bulawayo on Saturday.
