Proteas far from paralysed by fear, says Rabada

I am certainly not paralysed by the thought of losing Kagiso Rabada

Proteas fast bowler

● Nearly a decade on from his starring role in South Africa’s victory at the Under-19 World Cup, Kagiso Rabada is desperate to produce a similar result at an event where the Proteas have only known heartache.

“I don’t think (the World Cup) has (seen the best of me),” Rabada said. “There have been some major disappointments for me frankly. The belief is still there, I am nowhere near done in my career.”

Gearing up for his fourth World Cup — his second in the 50-over format — Rabada is aware of the burden of past failures that all Proteas players are confronted with at ICC events, but feels optimistic that this year’s group is capable of writing a different script.

South Africa begins its World Cup campaign in Delhi on Saturday against Sri Lanka (10.30am).

“We want to win desperately of course, but I am certainly not paralysed by the thought of losing, because if you are, that is the first red flag,” he said.

“You can’t ignore the fact that South Africa hasn’t had the best runs in World Cups thus far, but why should we carry that burden of previous generations from other World Cups? We shouldn’t, because all you’re doing is thinking about what happened in the past, all we need to focus on is where we feel our shortcomings are and then set out clear goals for this tournament.”

Four years ago, the Proteas gave themselves no chance of getting to the knockout stages after losing their first three matches. The pre-tournament planning was poor, Rabada was barely fit, and it turned into South Africa’s worst World Cup campaign, with the Proteas winning just three times. Rabada took just 11 wickets.

Those experiences along with another shock loss to the Netherlands at the T20 World Cup last year that ended SA’s participation in that tournament, and cost them a spot in the semifinals, have all added to the resilience of this year’s tour party.

“It’s about winning when the odds are against us. We have shown we can beat anyone with this team that we have got right now,” Rabada said.

Having lost at home to Pakistan and Bangladesh, with Cricket SA withdrawing the team from a series in Australia because of the SA20, and another series with the Netherlands affected by the Covid pandemic, the Proteas only claimed the last automatic qualifying spot for the World Cup when Bangladesh beat Ireland in May.

However, series wins against current world champions England in January, and then bouncing back from being 0-2 down against Australia to win the series 3-2 on the eve of the World Cup, have lifted the players’ spirits.

“Winning that series showed us that we have a good ability to remain competitive no matter what happens,” said Rabada.

“If you look at our results in the last few years, even though we have been through a transition, we have done decently, and that shows that when we want to turn up our competitiveness, then we do it.”

Robbed of Anrich Nortjé’s pace and experience, Rabada knows that even more responsibility rests on his shoulders as the Proteas seek to lift their World Cup curse.

“Conditions here are not unfamiliar, I suspect it will be typical of what you get with Indian pitches. So we will generally be aiming to bowl lots of tight lines, use cutters, and if the pitches are abrasive then reverse swing will come into play.”

Although Sri Lanka had to earn their spot in India via the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe, Rabada is under no illusion that, given their familiarity with conditions, they pose an imminent threat. “They have some good spinners, and the pitch in Delhi usually helps spin, and they also have aggressive batters.”

They are missing a crucial match-winner in leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who has a hamstring injury, but as always with Sri Lanka, they’ll throw a variety of different looks at South Africa in an attempt to upset their rhythm.

The Proteas, notoriously sluggish starters in series, regardless of the format, are all too aware of the importance of gaining an early foothold in the competition. “It’s important to start well, but wherever the journey takes us, the goal is to win the World Cup,” said Rabada.