Vernon Philander backs Kagiso Rabada to put Australia on slippery slope at Lord's in WTC final

Former Proteas all-rounder Vernon Philander is not concerned about Kagiso Rabada’s fitness of state of mind ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia.

The Proteas and the Aussies go head-to-head to win the ICC Test Mace from Wednesday at Lord’s in London.

There have been concerns that Rabada is going into the biggest match in South African cricket history underdone after being a month out of the game while serving a drugs ban.

Rabada, 30, was at the centre of a controversy over the last couple of months, after he announced at the end of April he had tested positive for a banned recreational drug. The drug was later confirmed to be cocaine.

By the time Rabada made the announcement, he had just about completed his one-month ban and swiftly returned to action for the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He wasn’t quite at his belligerent best when he returned to action for the Gujarat Titans in India, but looked much sharper in the warm-up match against Zimbabwe, where had the home team's batters ducking and diving for cover.

Rabada is going to be really important for the Proteas, because of his quality and experience. Australia are stacked with experience and world beaters and South Africa need their own world-class performance to be firing at full blast.

Philander says he spoke to Rabada before the team departed for England and is confident that he will be at his best once he gets that Duke ball in his hands.

“Rustiness? It’s probably a concern for both sides. Most of the Australian bowlers have also just been playing in the IPL as well,” Philander told IOL Sport.

“I spoke to KG just before they left and there is a real sense of hunger and keenness to put in a big performance for the country.

“The energy and quality that he brings to the party is massively important to the outfit. The rest of the bowling attack tends to feed off his energy. Let’s hope he starts well, because he is going to be massively important for South Africa.”

Philander was the star performer the last time the Proteas won the golden mace at Lord’s in 2012.

The "surgeon" went to work on the English batting line up during that Test match, nipping the ball in and away with his signature wobble seam, which is now being used by bowlers all over the world.

The slope at Lord’s is known to give seamers some assistance, especially when there is a bit of grass on the surface and cloud cover above it.

But the Lord’s can also be very flat and provide opportunities to score. Bowlers who don’t adjust to the conditions normally pay a heavy price.

“The one thing that sets Lord’s apart from other venues is obviously the slope. One from the one side to the other side of the ground there is about a two metre difference,” Philander said.

“It can be helpful for the bowlers, but it can also be really flat. As much as there is an element of the slope for the bowlers to work with, it can also be a really good batting surface.

“That’s why you can’t go out there and expect things to happen from the get go, you have to try and be in the game from the start and try and make things happen.

“You have to get the ball slightly fuller and get batters to play with a vertical bat, challenging both the inside and outside edges.”

PROTEAS TEAM FOR LORD’S

Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (captain), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.

@JohnGoliath82