“It’s constant repetition and hours and hours of work, and being relentless with that and trying to see how much better you can get.” – Kagiso Rabada on reaching 200 Test wickets.
Telford Vice | Cape Town
THAT it would happen was no surprise. But few would have thought it would happen so quickly. Happen it did in Karachi on Thursday, when Hasan Ali swung raggedly, missed, and lost his middle stump. With that, Kagiso Rabada had 200 Test wickets.
He reached the milestone in 8,154 deliveries. Waqar Younis got there 429 balls fewer, and Dale Steyn did it 306 faster. And that’s it: nobody else has taken 200 wickets in as few deliveries as Rabada. Also, only Waqar, Kapil Dev and Harbhajan Singh have been younger than Rabada’s 25 years and 248 days when they chalked up 200.
“It’s massive feat to be included in a list of such names,” Rabada told an online press conference. “When you start playing you don’t ever think that you will be on such a list and have such statistics. All you want to do is be the best that you can. So I’m really glad and it is satisfying.”
A hallmark of Rabada’s career is the apparent effortlessness with which he performs so consistently. Blessed with a smooth, rhythmical action, he has had few injuries by fast bowlers’ standards. He has gone wicketless in only one of his 44 Tests: his second, against India in Bangalore in November 2015, when rain washed out four days’ play and limited him to five overs. Only in eight of the 79 innings in which he has bowled has he failed to take a wicket. He has claimed nine five-wicket hauls and taken 10 in a Test four times. To what did he credit his steady stream of star performances?
“I don’t think there’s a magic answer for that,” Rabada said. “I just think it’s hard work and spending a lot of time on your craft; seeing where you can get better and analysing it and doing a lot of thinking. It hasn’t all been easy. You find yourself trying to perfect something that might seem so simple. It’s constant repetition and hours and hours of work, and being relentless with that and trying to see how much better you can get. There’s a whole lot of things that can attribute to that. But if I had to give you a simple answer I would say hard and relentless work.”
Waqar is now Pakistan’s bowling coach. Perhaps jokingly, Rabada was asked whether, since they’re both in Karachi, he had had a one-on-one session with one of the greats of the game. “We did practice at the same ground but it would be a bit concerning if he was coaching me and not the Pakistan team while they were there,” Rabada said. “I think he was a wonderful bowler, one of the bowlers I watch in my spare time when I’m looking to learn about the game. I’d love to chat to him once all of this is over.”
Rabada’s “this” is the first Test. After three days South Africa are 27 runs ahead but they have already lost four wickets in their second innings. Rabada will likely have to take to the batting crease in earnest before he will have the chance to add to his pile of wickets.
“I just try and see what I can do for the team in a particular situation,” he said of his batting ability. “That is going to require me to work on my batting, especially in Test cricket. Runs down the order are extremely golden.”
So, South Africa think the match remains winnable for them? “Definitely. That’s what we have to believe as a team. Aiden [Markram] and Rassie [van der Dussen] batted extremely well [in a stand of 127 before three wickets crashed for 10 runs in 33 deliveries].” But Rabada’s faith was firm: “On subcontinent pitches, wickets can fall in clusters that way. We’re constantly tested, and we’re going to get tested again tomorrow. Just like they got tested when we had them four down overnight. We have to be up the for the challenge. That’s why we get up in the morning. That’s why we practise so hard. It’s for times like these.”
First published by Cricbuzz.
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