Rabada toasts 'special, special, special' win: 'I'm willing to give my blood for this team'

We all know the adage about having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other and the battle between them to influence our actions. Kagiso Rabada had a version of that going on in his mind throughout the World Test Championship final and he leaned into the positive one.

"There are normally two voices in your head, the one that doubts and the one that believes. The second is the one that we keep feeding, especially in big moments like this, the World Test Championship final," Rabada told reporters at Lord's. "That's why you saw the performances you saw. It's a testament to our team this season."

In a tense Test that lasted 10 sessions, the advantage was seized early by South Africa when they bowled Australia out for 212 but then squandered it as they tumbled to 138 all out. Limiting Australia in the second innings was crucial to giving South Africa a chance. They had Australia on 73 for 7 at one stage and South Africa could have been chasing no more than 200. That ballooned to 282 but on a flattening pitch Conrad felt it was gettable and credited his bowlers, and Rabada in particular, for setting up their victory.

"Where did we turn it around? Obviously, that bowling performance, because we could easily have fallen asleep in the field and then they would have gotten away from us in a big way," Conrad said. "As for KG - that's why he's the superstar. He knew we had one chance at it."

Rabada refused to see himself in that light. "I don't see myself as a star," he said, despite the statistics which suggest otherwise. He is fourth on South Africa's all-time wicket-taker's list and has the best strike rate in the game for anyone with more than 200 wickets.

"I see myself as someone who's willing to give my blood for this team and continue working hard and improving. That's me as a cricketer, always wanting to improve and playing for the badge with a lot of pride. I've been working extremely hard, and those second-innings spells, those are the ones that count more, when you're a bit tired. You could be behind the game, or you could be ahead of the game. This time, we're behind the game. But I think it was just about staying calm and looking at what's in front of us. That's the way I see myself."

He has previously described being part of this team as just playing with a bunch of mates which makes sense considering the make-up of this crop. Three of the XI - Rabada, Wiaan Mulder and Ryan Rickelton - are all from the same school in Johannesburg and two others - Kyle Verreynne and David Bedingham - are from the same institution in Cape Town. Rabada and Temba Bavuma have been domestic team-mates since Rabada's career began and Rabada and Aiden Markram were in the same, trophy-winning, under-19 side that won the age-group World Cup in 2014. Lungi Ngidi was due to be part of that under-19 side too but an injury kept him out of the tournament.

And Ngidi deserves a separate mention. While Rabada took the first three wickets in Australia's second innings, Ngidi's scythed through the middle-order in a nine-over spell that brought three wickets and erased the memories of his first-innings performance. It also repaid the faith Conrad had when he picked Ngidi for "bounce, seam and swing movement," Conrad said. "And he delivered."

After Ngidi's poor first day, Rabada refused to be drawn into where Ngidi needed to improve and instead suggested a steak, a milkshake and a movie to make him feel better. What did Ngidi do? "He had a milkshake, he had a steak, he watched a movie and he came back," Rabada joked, smiling towards Ngidi, who he clearly sees as an equal.

That goes for the group as a whole. This is a team who have grown up together and in the public eye. Their learnings as a young squad finding their feet have happened on the biggest stage, sometimes painfully, which has made their recent run of success all the more striking. South Africa are on an eight-Test winning streak, and with two to come in Zimbabwe (sorry, neighbours) that should extend to 10 - their longest ever. They have won their first trophy with the word "world" in it. There is a sense that, even as league dollars call, they have a core of players who will put the country first. Rabada leads that list and in many ways this team.

"I'll never forget this in my life. None of the boys will forget this in their lives. Playing against Australia, they're a well-accustomed team, a bit of an ageing team, with all due respect. Some of those guys were playing when we were still in high school," he said. "So this is special, special, special. It hasn't sunk in yet. I can't really describe."

That's how a lot of South Africans feel.