Step by step for Rabada
The trouble with all the success Kagiso Rabada has had in the last year is that everyone will expect it to continue for as long as his career lasts.
|||Johannesburg - The trouble with all the success Kagiso Rabada has had in the last year is that everyone will expect it to continue for as long as his career lasts.
That’s simply impossible, but Rabada is looking forward to trying. He left this week’s Cricket South Africa (CSA) Awards dinner weighed down by six trophies, including the Cricketer of the Year prize.
A stunning debut season that included a hat-trick in his first One-Day International and a haul of 13 wickets in South Africa’s sole Test victory in the last year has put the 21-year-old firmly in the spotlight and will make him one of the main weapons as South Africa seeks to restore its reputation after a lengthy period of mediocrity.
“Obviously there’s going to be a lot more expectation,” the ever cool Rabada said after his record haul. “I’ll have to find a way to deal with it, that will be another challenge, because not everything is on the cricket field.”
“I will do my best for the team and hopefully, more performances can come. I can’t control whether I get wickets. I’ll just keep it simple, look after my preparation, but also live life a bit, not take everything so seriously.”
There’ll be plenty of cricket to keep Rabada busy over the next year. Starting with next month’s Test against New Zealand in Durban and ending with the fourth Test against England in August next year, South Africa will play 15 Tests.
In that time they will embark on three tours and play a host of T20 Internationals and ODIs.
“I don’t usually have a structured plan (to prepare for the season) but I know more or less what I’d like to do and what I’d like to improve on, but we’ll take it step by step,” Rabada said about the season ahead.
Given the volume of cricket coming up, the national side’s coaching staff along with Cricket SA’s management face a difficult task in managing the young fast bowler’s workload.
There is no doubting his fitness and strength, but bowling him into the ground now may shorten his career.With all the fast bowlers seemingly fit and available three weeks before that first Test against the Black Caps starts in Durban, the selectors have sufficient variety from which to choose.
The prospect of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Rabada in a starting line-up is a heady one.One major concern, ironically given the schedule of the next 12 months, is actually getting some game time for the Test side ahead of those matches against the New Zealanders.
Kane Williamson’s team will arrive here having played two Tests against Zimbabwe, while most of the South African players have had a diet of mainly T20 matches - recently for many of the players in the Caribbean.
Rabada had a stint with English county side Kent not so long ago, where he played two first class matches in addition to a handful of T20 games, so at least he has some overs under the belt.For the rest, the selectors will be banking on the game time Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Temba Bavuma, Philander and Dane Piedt will be getting as part of the SA A side currently on tour in Australia.
They’ll be playing two four day matches against an Australia A team.For Morkel and Steyn it looks increasingly likely that they will have to rely on time in the nets to get them ready for the Tests against New Zealand, which is obviously far from ideal.
The Star