Full Name

Kagiso Rabada

Born

May 25, 1995, Johannesburg

Age

30y 61d

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Fast

Playing Role

Bowler

Kagiso Rabada player profile

A genuine quick who regularly bowls in the 140-150kph range and knows how to set up batters, Kagiso Rabada quickly established himself as the leader of South Africa's attack in the late 2010s, living up to the hype he generated as a teen prodigy.

An Under-19 world champion with South Africa in 2014, where he was the team's highest wicket-taker, Rabada had a dream start to his international career as a 20-year-old. He took 6 for 16 - then a record - on ODI debut in July 2015, against Bangladesh, which included a hat-trick, and six months later, became the youngest South African to take ten wickets in a Test in a massive win over England in Centurion. Before he had turned 23, Rabada became the youngest South African (and fifth-youngest overall) to reach 100 Test wickets. He had also collected three more Test ten-fors, including one against Australia during the fractious home series in 2018 and become the format's No. 1 bowler.

But over a year before that Test in Port Elizabeth, South Africa's pace baton symbolically passed to Rabada when Dale Steyn walked off the field at the WACA, clutching his broken shoulder. If he felt the pressure of taking charge of the attack, it wasn't evident in the way Rabada blew Australia away with nearly every weapon in a fast bowler's armoury - swing, reverse swing, seam, pace, yorkers and the ability to target cracks in the pitch - handing South Africa their first win at the venue in 28 years. He was South Africa's top bowler in the 2-1 away win, with 15 wickets at 22.4.

By early 2017, he became a millionaire in his country when he was picked up by Delhi Daredevils for US$750,000 at the IPL auction. Between 2019 and 2022, for Delhi and then Punjab Kings, he took over 15 wickets every season, memorably bowling six yorkers while defending ten runs against Kolkata Knight Riders in a Super Over in 2019 and conceding two runs for two wickets in a Super Over against Punjab in 2020.

But while he was wowing fans with his aggressive bowling, unfortunately, Rabada, whose name translates to "peace" in his native Sotho language, was also collecting suspensions for his aggressive send-offs and missing important matches for South Africa.

His heavy workload with little time for injury rehab was partly responsible for a poor 2019 World Cup, where he averaged 36 over nine games. His wicket-taking in Tests also dropped off after three bumper years, and between 2018 and 2021, he went 17 Tests without a five-for. He seemed to find his mojo again - as well as a well-dsiguised slower ball - after taking a five-for in St Lucia in June 2021, and when he joined the 300-wicket club in 2024, he boasted the best strike rate - 39.2 - among all bowlers in the list.

In 2025, South Africa reached the World Test Championship final, thanks in so small part to Rabada toiling for 14 wickets in a 2-0 win in Bangladesh. In the final against defending champions Australia at Lord's, shortly after serving a suspension for the use of cocaine, he took nine wickets to help South Africa win their first ICC men's title since 1998.

Kagiso Rabada IPL factfile

- Rabada's rapid rise in international cricket earned him an IPL deal when he was just 21. He was bought for INR 5 crore by Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils) in 2017.

- He played six games that year, returning as many wickets and missed the next season with injury.

- Retained in 2019 for INR 4.2 crore, Rabada went on to bag 25 wickets in 12 games. The next year, he finished as the season's highest wicket-taker, taking 30 wickets as Capitals finished runners-up.

- He was released ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction and was then snapped up by Punjab Kings for INR 9.25 crore.

- In his first season with Kings, he claimed 23 wickets even as the team failed to make the playoffs. He only played six matches in 2023 and was retained for IPL 2024. He picked 11 wickets from as many games in 2024 and was not retained ahead of the IPL 2025 auction.

- Gujarat Titans snapped Rabada up for INR 10.75 crore ahead of IPL 2025.

Kagiso Rabada Career Stats

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests711301310073063367/11213/14421.743.3438.915174
ODIs106104544446131686/166/1627.455.0832.4620
T20Is656513931928713/183/1827.158.3019.6000
FC911671704892184119/3314/10522.423.2441.418205
List A124121635254601896/166/1628.885.1533.6820
T20s224221488665652784/214/2123.618.0617.5800

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests711072010314711.85205950.070013516340
ODIs106451840131*14.8550779.09003012410
T20Is6524151562217.33141110.6300145210
FC9112923125548*11.83247750.660016620430
List A124552145031*13.2357977.72003612450
T20s22483404744411.02442107.23004116740

Kagiso Rabada T20 Stats

Bowling

TournamentTeamsMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
IPL3 teams848419022732119 4/21 4/2122.958.6115.9600
SA20MICT272655370632 4/25 4/2522.067.6617.2100
Major League CricketMI NY44901136 2/16 2/1618.837.5315.0000
Mzansi Super LeagueJS171637045721 4/27 4/2721.767.4117.6100
Vitality BlastKEN661441626 2/31 2/3127.006.7524.0000

Batting & Fielding

TournamentTeamsMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
IPL3 teams8433152154411.94201106.9600169300
SA20MICT2784248*6.002692.30003070
Major League CricketMI NY43121*1.00825.00000000
Mzansi Super LeagueJS177149218.1637132.43006250
Vitality BlastKEN64233*1.50837.50000030
Kagiso Rabada

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test
ODI
T20I

Recent Matches of Kagiso Rabada

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
South Africa vs Australia15/51 & 4/5911-Jun-2025Lord'sTest # 2585
Sth Africans vs Zimbabweans--1/1803-Jun-2025Arundel
GT vs LSG20/4522-May-2025AhmedabadT20
GT vs DC--0/3418-May-2025DelhiT20
GT vs MI7*1/4229-Mar-2025AhmedabadT20

Videos of Kagiso Rabada

Photos of Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada had plenty of autographs to sign upon his arrival
Kagiso Rabada is engulfed by fans upon his return to South Africa
Temba Bavuma and Co pose with the WTC mace
South Africa's players celebrate with the WTC mace on the Lord's balcony
South Africa's players and support staff get clicked at the WTC final
Kagiso Rabada had Nathan Lyon lbw in the third over of the day