Kagiso Rabada

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.