Kagiso Rabada

[slippy888]

I think this guy has potential to be a cricketing great, he has pace and gets the ball to swing both ways and dont forget about that deadly yorker. The question is can he take 300 test wickets, he certainly has the abilities only south African cricket politics can stop him.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Very impressed with Rabada so far. Living up to his potential from under 19 hype. Remember him bowling up to 151 k in the India series. He has good head on his shoulder. This maybe early to say but he will reach 300+ in Tests

 

[Howe_zat]

If this is what's said about one good series I dread to think what you'd say after his first bad series.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

If this is what's said about one good series I dread to think what you'd say after his first bad series.

I have seen him in three series and a bit in under 19 WC. Early days but looks a great prospect to me

 

[Spark]

If this is what's said about one good series I dread to think what you'd say after his first bad series.

Sometimes with bowlers you just know, tbf. It's a lot easier to confidently spot potential in fast bowlers than almost any other kind of cricketer. A lot of us were and are saying the same thing about Cummins and Pattinson; it's just a question of whether they can keep fit without losing their special attributes.

 

[kingkallis]

If Rabada can maintain Ntinisque fitness then he can go on to take 400+ wickets as well. As AZH said, he has a thinking head on his shoulder and he looks very well composed for a 19 year old guy.

 

[Howe_zat]

Sometimes with bowlers you just know, tbf. It's a lot easier to confidently spot potential in fast bowlers than almost any other kind of cricketer. A lot of us were and are saying the same thing about Cummins and Pattinson; it's just a question of whether they can keep fit without losing their special attributes.

Maybe you have a point about fast bowlers. But we're still only a few years on from Sree>Broad and the like. And even Pattinson was just known in 2013 too, before he had an Ashes being far less effective than actual known quantities Siddle and Harris. And this is before we even get to the Wheel.

The example that really sticks in my craw is Tahir. Before he'd played a Test he was all the rage and was going to be the final piece in the puzzle for South Africa being a dominant team. Then he had a bad tour of Australia and was suddenly a useless laughing stock who (when he did take some wickets against Pakistan iirc) was a reason to mock people for getting out to him.

It's not a competition to see who's right first. Grinds my biscuits a bit.

 

[Top_Cat]

Fairly sure it is m8.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

hope rabada gets 300+ so i win

/thread

 

[StephenZA]

The example that really sticks in my craw is Tahir. Before he'd played a Test he was all the rage and was going to be the final piece in the puzzle for South Africa being a dominant team. Then he had a bad tour of Australia and was suddenly a useless laughing stock who (when he did take some wickets against Pakistan iirc) was a reason to mock people for getting out to him.

Tahir was an older journeyman, that already had a reputation. He was just `amazing` compared to SA spinners. If Rabada stays fit he will be in SA team for next 10+ years. And if he continues to show his current promise will be a SA great. What i always hoped Ngam would have been, if not so injury prone.

 

[Spark]

Maybe you have a point about fast bowlers. But we're still only a few years on from Sree>Broad and the like. And even Pattinson was just known in 2013 too, before he had an Ashes being far less effective than actual known quantities Siddle and Harris. And this is before we even get to the Wheel.

The example that really sticks in my craw is Tahir. Before he'd played a Test he was all the rage and was going to be the final piece in the puzzle for South Africa being a dominant team. Then he had a bad tour of Australia and was suddenly a useless laughing stock who (when he did take some wickets against Pakistan iirc) was a reason to mock people for getting out to him.

It's not a competition to see who's right first. Grinds my biscuits a bit.

Yes but Sree>Broad was patently ridiculous at the time, so that's a bad example.

Bowlers having potential doesn't mean young bowlers can't have a bad series or that they will come good immediately -- and Pattinson didn't have an ineffective Ashes series, he had an ineffective Ashes Test and then got injured, which hardly counts. I am strictly talking about fast bowlers here, Test class spin bowling is a much more subtle and skill- and mind-reliant discipline rather than bowling 150kmh outswingers and whacking batsmen on the head.

 

[zaremba]

From the very little I've seen of him he has a very great deal going for him.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Absolutely, I hope he goes on to fulfill his potential. To that end, yes I think he'll take 300+ wickets

 

[Black_Warrior]

I don't know how many wickets he will end up taking, and I don't know how he will take to test cricket. However, based on what I have seen, what has impressed me most about him is his intelligence. At that age, with so little international exposure, I have rarely seen bowlers know exactly where to bowl to certain batsmen and how best to utilise your own resources. I have seen the likes of Wahab Riaz only figure it out now, after playing international cricket for a few years. Rabada seems to be a thinking bowler. So the signs are excellent, and I am sure he will be guided by the best fast bowling coaches in South Africa. Hopefully he will also learn a lot from Steyn.

 

[NUFAN]

I'm fairly confident I've got this one in the bag..

Very exciting prospect and I really can't wait to watch him with the red ball. Is he any chance of playing the First Test vs India?

 

[Black_Warrior]

Don't think that's happening unless someone out of Steyn, Philander and Morkel get injured. But if Philander does underperform, I am pretty sure SA would be tempted to bring in Rabada in the later stage of the series.

 

[Daemon]

Agree with everything in the thread besides the consensus that he'll hit 300+ test wickets. Not sure how anyone can say that with any degree of confidence. So few reach that milestone regardless of how good they are. Morkel hasn't got there. Broad only recently did. Zaheer played 14 years before he scraped through. Gillespie didn't get close.

A lot of things have got to right for him to make it. Injuries, bad form, having to overtake 3 of the best fast bowlers in the world in the pecking order, SA not playing as many test matches..it's not impossible and he's got the right things on his side but I think people underestimate the difficulty of reaching such milestones.

I recall Howe saying something similar about Jermaine Blackwood when asked by NUFAN whether he'd hit 8000 test runs. iirc he gave a pretty damning statistic about how few people actually get there.

 

[smash84]

he seems to have the goods, let's see how it pans out.

The fitness aspect of things is so underrated. So many fast bowlers over the years have had one injury and they have never been the same.

 

[aussie]

I'd be sort of shocked and disappointed if he doesn't eclipse Ntini and become SA's greatest ever black cricketer.

Yes some cricketers for form/injury reasons like a Cummins, Tahir, Roach, J Pattinson don't live up to their early hype/excitement - but others like a Steyn, Akhtar, Wasim, Waqar, Bond, S Pollock, Lee, Saqlian etc etc throughout the games history have done. So I'm backing Rabada to be one of the latter.

 

[Niall]

Don't think that's happening unless someone out of Steyn, Philander and Morkel get injured. But if Philander does underperform, I am pretty sure SA would be tempted to bring in Rabada in the later stage of the series.

I want him at least to play the England series, **** picking Harmer on non spinning pitches, the current UAE tour has proved that the days of England getting out for comedy value to any turner are well and truly dead. I know who England would rather face!