Delhi Capitals' (DC) ace quick Kagiso Rabada is hoping to put in as many overs under his belt as possible at training in quest to regain rhythm ahead of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in UAE, starting September 19.
Rabada, who finished his quarantine phase on Monday (September 7), is excited to be practising with the rest of his Delhi teammates after a lengthy layoff amid COVID-19 pandemic and is determined to better his last year's performances.
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"It feels good to be running in and to be with some teammates as well. It is, of course, some old teammates and some new ones," said the South African in a media release issued by the Delhi franchise.
"I feel quite strong. I think I just need to bowl more, and make sure I haven't forgotten how to bowl (laughs). I need to keep up with the bowling practice, but otherwise, I feel healthy."
"This (situation in COVID times) is quite unique, not a lot of people get to do this. We're in the middle of a desert, playing cricket it's something that I didn't think I would ever be able to do. So it's a lot of fun also."
Rabada said he enjoyed the five-month break from the game, with the circumstances giving him a rare chance to be physically and mentally fresh.
"It's been a high volume of cricket in the past five years for me, but I really enjoyed the break at home," he said. "I was just chilling with my family, getting to see my friends (virtually) during the lockdown. So yeah being home was the best thing."
The 25-year-old quick was instrumental to Delhi's first play-offs campaign after seven years last summer, taking 25 wickets in 12 innings while bowling his overs at an economy rate of 7.82.
Rabada is quite happy with the overall squad depth that his team has this time and believes this could well be the year when they finally lift the coveted trophy.
"We had a really good season, so I know that we can challenge and win this competition because we came really close last season, so mentally I guess that helps."
"But also, it is a new tournament so we have to start again and we've got a nice group put together nice team."
"We have to start again and start the whole process, so hopefully we can get off to a good start but at the end of the season we want to be the most consistent team and win at times when we really, really need to win," he added.
Delhi Capitals start off their season with a game against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Dubai on September 20.
(Inputs from PTI)
