What makes Kagiso Rabada great? The most obvious question finally gets a straight answer

There aren’t many questions that stump Proteas speedster Kagiso Rabada. He normally answers the media’s enquiries with confidence and in his own laidback manner.

But, during the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, he took a couple of seconds to answer a question that had first come out on social media. It seemed innocuous at the time when the journalist posed the question, but it did make him think.

“A lot has made me stand out in recent times!” he joked, referring to the one-month ban he served after testing positive for cocaine.

He then said: “My attributes … pace, bounce, movement and doing that consistently."

Star Australian batsman Steve Smith had the same response when he was quizzed about Rabada after the first day’s play at Lord’s when the South African fast bowler took five wickets on the first day of the WTC final.

“He’s got good skills,” Smith said after the day’s play. “He can shape the ball away, he can nibble it both ways.

“He’s relentless, he’s always at you, he’s always up for the challenge, he charges in all day. His record speaks for itself, and he showed that again today.”

On Monday, during a staff engagement meeting at Red Bull on a rather wet, cold and windy day in Cape Town, the same question was posed to Rabada, who went past the great Allan Donald in the all-time Proteas wicket-taking list during that WTC final win.

He was asked if he had “stewed over the question a bit more” following their triumphant return from Lord’s.

This time, however, his answer wasn’t of a technical nature. It wasn’t about his ability to nip the ball both ways with a wobble seam or deadly accurate bouncer. It was about a trait that makes the rise above the good.

“I guess it’s about willing to sacrifice everything to get the result that you want. It’s just determination,” Rabada said with a little smirk, as the room became all warm and fuzzy.

You don’t take 336 Test wickets at an average of 21.74 and at a strike-rate of 38.9 if you don’t have that will and desire to succeed and be the best.

At 30, Rabada is in the prime of his cricketing career and is still leading the Proteas attack like the ace predator he is. But remarkably he has not let the pressure of carrying the nation’s attack on his shoulders. 

“I think there's always pressure. Pressure comes in many forms, you know,” Rabada said.

“The bottom line is cricket, so I think the best thing to do is to focus on cricket. But also, you know, I enjoy it. Life is there to live and cricket is there to play.

“And if you're not enjoying it, then I think that's when you actually play worse. You do have to love what you do.”

What makes Kagiso Rabada great? Well, it’s pretty obvious now, isn’t it?

@JohnGoliath82