Matches: 49 Wickets: 54 Av: 27.65 ER: 8.43
It is hard to believe that South Africa’s bowling spearhead is still just 27 years old as he approaches his first decade of international cricket which has involved 191 matches for his country across all three formats. Injuries and burn-out have been constant worries but more for administrators and selectors than for the man himself, whose desire to play every game remains undiminished.
Any bowler taking more than a wicket per game is a special T20 cricketer, especially when they are leading that attack and batters routinely ‘show respect’ for their reputation. Rabada’s reputation is among the highest in the game. Wickets are taken for granted when he bowls but insufficient credit is given to the level of subtle skill and knowledge he possesses while claiming them. Routinely tasked with the twin responsibility of Power Play and ‘slog over’ bowling, he is one of the few fast bowlers in the world legitimately regarded as a specialist in both disciplines.
He has 99 IPL wickets from just 63 matches – if he reaches 100 in his next game he will be the quickest to the milestone by an extraordinary 10 games. Someday, perhaps, he might even be given the chance to contribute more with the bat – perhaps as a pinch-hitter. Curiously, his highest score in T20Is is 22 yet his average is 22.83 (with 13 not outs in 19 innings!)
