Rabada Primed And Ready For T20 World Cup

Proteas spearhead bowler Kagiso Rabada believes modern-day bowling – particularly in Indian conditions – has become one of cricket’s toughest challenges, but the South African fast bowler is confident that adaptability with preparation can still bring success.

With India set to host the T20 World Cup alongside Sri Lanka, Rabada acknowledged that pitches in India have increasingly favoured batters, making life difficult for bowlers, leaving them more as cannon fodder. 

“India has small grounds and the ball skids on,” Rabada explained. “Dew makes it worse with the ball swinging for about two overs. It’s becoming really brutal.”

However, he stopped short of suggesting bowlers are completely out of the contest. From what he has witnessed, Rabada expects greater balance in global ICC tournaments. 

“In ICC events, not all games will be high scoring, and I don’t think all pitches will be that way – there will be something for the bowlers.”

The rise of T20 cricket has fundamentally changed the battle between bat and ball. According to Rabada, access to data and analytics has narrowed the gap between top-tier and average players. 

“If you look at the way that cricket is moving, especially in T20 cricket, literally everyone in the format can hit a six,” he said.

“The amount of data, stats, and resources available has evened out the playing field.”

Rabada believes that the evolution of the game, and in particular the advent of the T20 format, has forced bowlers to constantly reinvent themselves. 

“As bowlers, we can see what batters are trying to do, and batters can see what bowlers are trying to do, and they set up for that,” said Rabada. 

“It’s a case of continuing to evolve, which isn’t easy – but if you don’t evolve, the game moves ahead of you.”

Interestingly, Rabada feels batters have become so accustomed to flat wickets that any hint of assistance for the bowlers can expose vulnerabilities. 

“Wickets are so flat that as soon as there is a bit in it for bowlers, batters seem like they can’t cope with it.”

Looking ahead to a new World Cup, Rabada stressed that South Africa is not dwelling excessively on past disappointments. The Proteas lost to India in the final of the 2024 edition of the tournament and instead are using past experiences as motivation. 

“What we have done in the past will most definitely give you motivation that you can do it again because we have been there before,” he mentioned. 

“This is a new tournament, but we do look at what we’ve done in the past and use it as motivation.”

Since South Africa’s World Test Championship triumph – when they beat Australia in the final at Lord’s in 2025 – Rabada has sensed a subtle shift in public perception as they seem less desperate for a trophy. 

“There hasn’t been as much talk around it – more around well wishes. There haven’t been references to the chokers tag. The talk has mainly been around selection.”

Turning to conditions at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Rabada expects high scores but believes fast bowlers can still play a decisive role. 

“Ahmedabad is a high-scoring pitch, but the wicket suits fast bowling,” he said. “There are different soils – red soil and black soil. The black will spin more with the red being more bouncy, so we need to take that into account.”

He is confident South Africa’s squad has the depth and versatility to adapt. “The team we have chosen covers all bases, whether it is pace or spin,” Rabada said. “We need to combine that with the slower bowlers to use it to best effect.”

Despite the challenges, Rabada made it clear that complacency will not be an option as they prepare for their opening game against Canada. 

“We want to get the win. We cannot take any opposition for granted,” he said. “We’ll have a look at Canada and what they offer, read the conditions, have a plan – and do all we can to execute our plan.”