The bulk of cricket lovers across the world have quite rightly been focusing their attention on the current Ashes series between England and Australia. Away from Cardiff, a young South African cricketer named Kagiso Rabada announced himself to the cricketing world in the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The 20 year-old from Johannesburg delivered the best ODI bowling figures in history for a debutant: six wickets for 15 runs off eight overs (the game was reduced to 40 overs) to rip the heart out of the Bangladesh batting order. This included a hat-trick, only the second time this has been done by a debutant in ODI history after Bangladeshi spinner Taijul Islam became the first to do this in December 2014, against Zimbabwe. Rabada’s final analysis is also the best return by any South African in ODI cricket. He was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match award in his debut ODI. A very big day for the young man.
Is Rabada a one-hit wonder or is he the future of South African fast bowling? If he is not rushed into Test cricket and is allowed to develop under new Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveld in the same way that Dale Steyn was eased into the international arena, he has the potential to become a a top quality international bowler. As a young man, he is already bowling at an average of 138 kilometers per hour. In his mid-20’s he should be able to push that above 140 kilometers per hour quite easily.
He also seems to have the temperament for the big occasion. Aside from delivering this phenomenal result on his ODI debut, in the 2014 version of the under-19 World Cup he destroyed the Australian batting line-up in the semi-final with a return of 6 for 25, propelling the young Proteas into the final which they won.
He is a very young man in terms of first-class cricket, but even there he has started to show that he has the ability to take wickets in the longer version of the game. In South Africa’s domestic first class four day competition, he played for the Highveld Lions in the 2014-15 season. In a game against the Dolphins played at his home ground The Wanderers, he returned impressive first innings bowling figures of 5-72. The first innings proved to be only a warm up for the second innings as he proceeded to bundle the Dolphins out, with a return of 9 for 33.
I really look forward to Kagiso Rabada developing into a true world class performer in the next couple of years as I honestly believe that he is the real deal.
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