Having been away from cricket for the past 6 months, South African speedster Kagiso Rabada can’t wait to get back to action via the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, slated to be held in UAE from September 19 to November 10.
Rabada, who will continue to ply his trade for the Delhi Capitals in the upcoming edition of IPL, also admitted that he needed the break that the COVID-19 lockdown provided.
“I really, really enjoyed it. It’s been five years of non-stop cricket, so I loved being home. To be honest I was in no rush to get back. But we are also sportsmen, and we are always competitive and once you get back into it those juices flow naturally,” Rabada was quoted as saying by iol.co.za.
After his debut in 2014, Rabada has played quite a lot of cricket, representing the Proteas in 142 international games (43 Tests, 75 ODIs and 24 T20Is).
The Coronavirus-induced hiatus allowed him to refresh and the 25-year-old pacer is now excited to go back to Dubai for the cash-rich T20 league.
“I’m excited to go back to Dubai for the IPL. I’ve not been since the 2014 Under-19 World Cup and I’ve always wanted to visit again.”
Rabada has been training under Highveld Lions coach Wandile Gwavu at the Wanderers in wake of the COVID-19 lockdown.
“It felt like I was coming out of an off-season although that felt new because I haven’t really had an off-season in the past,” he said.
The fast bowler will also make his presence felt at Cricket South Africa’s Centre of Excellence in the next few days for some technical analysis.
“They’re doing that analysis with all the bowlers around the country, everything is moving to (Artificial Intelligence) these days, with players and coaches using data to enhance their performances.
“I’m slowly getting back into it. I’m feeling all right,” Rabada said about his few weeks of bowling.
