'We would have taken 208 for eight before the start' – Rabada

Kagiso Rabada said there was “room for improvement” but that South Africa would happily have taken an Indian score of 208 for eight after choosing to bowl first on the first day of the opening test at Supersport Park in Centurion on Tuesday.

“India are a quality batting line-up with a lot of experience but, if you’d offered us 208 for eight before the start of play, we’d have taken it.

Having not played any competitive cricket since South Africa’s World Cup campaign ended six weeks ago, Rabada said that ‘basics’ and efficient training were the keys to him taking 5-44 in 17 overs, his 14th five-wicket haul in tests.

“That’s what you do on any pitch – get the ball in the right areas. But sometimes you get the ball in the right places and you’re not so successful, today was just my day and I’m pretty happy with the way I bowled.

“I was very focused on my training, I knew exactly what I wanted to get out of it. All week the ball has been coming out nicely so I came into the match quite confident, I’m just pleased that all the hard, focused work paid off today,” Rabada said. “My mind and body were feeling good coming into the game.”

ENCOURAGING HIS TEAMMATES

Rabada’s performance was as good as any in his illustrious, 285-wicket test career but he took the time to offer encouragement to fellow fast bowlers Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee, who struggled at times in helpful conditions.

“Gerald and Marco are proven wicket-takers, they’ve shown that. We didn’t bowl badly but there is room for improvement. The nice thing about test cricket is that you get a second crack at it,” Rabada said.

India’s predicament would have been considerably more uncomfortable without a brave and skillful 70 not out from KL Rahul, batting at No 6.

“He’s done it time and time again for India, solid defence and he also attacked us at the right times, good options. There’s always going to be a batter who stands out and he was that man today,” Rabada said.

He also dismissed suggestions that the weight of expectation on him, as the leader of attack, was sometimes an excessive burden:

“I’ve always had that expectation, right from the first day playing for South Africa. Nothing has changed, my job is to take wickets. It is not a heavy burden of expectation. I put pressure on myself but in a good way.

“Milestones are great and stats are a description and a metric of your quality and how you are playing, but you can’t be too stats-orientated. Hopefully, I’ll take a lot more wickets for South Africa but sometimes it’s out of your control,” Rabada said.