Rabada said the long break from the game allowed him to set his goals.
South Africa’s star speedster Kagiso Rabada said he is fully committed to playing for South Africa while reflecting back at his disappointed 2019/20 season.
The 25-year-old was leading the International Cricket Council’s Test bowler rankings in 2018 but he was below par in the difficult last season, saying he felt “really rusty and out of place”.
After his overzealous celebration against Joe Root has seen him miss out on the crucial fourth Test against England –against them Proteas suffered a heavy 3-1 defeat in the Test series at home, as well as collecting a fourth demerit point in a 24-month period, Rabada suffered a groin injury in Australia.
And the pacer had to miss the T20Is and subsequently ruled him out for the ODI series against Australia as well as a white-ball tour of India in March, which was abandoned due to the Coronavirus risk.
Rabada said in an interview released by Cricket South Africa on Monday (June 1): “I am 150% fully committed to playing for South Africa. The past season was a disappointment. Even though I reflect and see that my stats were ‘OK’, I just felt really rusty and just a bit out of place.”
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The 25-year-old further added, “But, I realized it was never supposed to be easy and I’m trying to take it day by day to achieve my new sets of goals.”
His over-aggression approach on the pitch forces many to question his attitude, but the pacer said it is just the passion for the game. He further added: “It’s passion. Everybody has their opinion and they are entitled to that. I have identified things I needed to and will address them with the people who are closest to me and who I feel should be helping me.”
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has led to the shutdown of all sporting activities including cricket and Rabada is grateful that he got an extended rest from the game, given his heavy workload. Rabada has played 142 internationals across all three formats so far since making his debut in November 2014.
He signed off by saying, “The five years have gone by really quickly, but there has been a huge amount of volume in my cricket. I am just really glad that I can get a rest, not in the way that it has come, but getting the rest is really good and I am really enjoying my time. It has also allowed me to think about what I really want and makes it easier to set goals.”
(With Reuters Inputs)