Kagiso Rabada interview: Finding form at the IPL, bowling on instinct and his 'bizarre' profession

Kagiso Rabada has bowled over 20,000 balls in international cricket Matthew Lewis-ICC via Getty Images Share articleThe Athletic has launched a Cricket WhatsApp Channel. Click here to join. Preparation and analysis have become buzzwords when defining modern cricket at the highest level. But for Kagiso Rabada, it has never been about just that. “Pure instinct is what I went into professional cricket with,” he says in a Zoom interview with The Athletic from his Indian Premier League team Gujarat Titans’ hotel. Rabada’s early years were split between Mamelodi and the West Rand part of Johannesburg. As a youngster in school, his first team sport was rugby union, with cricket only a developing interest. Rugby’s loss has been cricket’s gain. The Under-19 World Cup in 2014 brought him into the limelight as Rabada finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker, including a haul of 6-25 against Australia in the semi-finals, as South Africa secured the title and he was soon heading for full honours. A Test debut followed in 2015 in India and aged just 22 years and 231 days, he had become the youngest bowler to be ranked first in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test rankings. He was all about that “pure instinct” — tall (6ft 3in), quick and always at the batter. Rabada has now played 255 times across formats for his nation and picked up 591 wickets and is still regularly clocked at more than 90 miles an hour. His 340 Test wickets ranks him fourth in South Africa’s all-time list behind Dale Steyn (439), Shaun Pollock (421) and Makhaya Ntini (390). “You gain a lot of experience through instinct,” he says, “but what I realise is when you’re doing badly, you start thinking about a million things. When you’re doing well, because you’re in that flow state, you’re not thinking about much.” Instinct has always taken precedence for Rabada. In a 2019 interview with ESPNCricinfo, he explained that when it comes to balancing instinct with technique, he was “60-40” towards the former while working towards making it 50-50. As time has passed and with more miles in his body, the 30-year-old has realised the value of recognising the other contributors to his success. “When you’re younger, things just sort of happen on their own. The older you get, the more you have to be cognisant of what you were doing when you were younger, especially, when you get through difficult patches,” he says. One of Rabada’s rougher patches came towards the end of 2018 and in early 2019 following a return from a back injury. He went without a five-wicket haul in Tests between 2018 and 2021, while his form in other formats suffered too. A return to consistency over the next four years was stalled by a one-month suspension in April 2025 for the use of a recreational drug that was later confirmed to contain cocaine. He returned from that to guide South Africa to a first ICC title in 27 years, picking up nine wickets in their 2025 World Test Championship final win over Australia at Lord’s. The IPL has also posed a challenge for Rabada. After picking up 93 wickets in 60 matches for the Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings between 2019 and 2022, he managed just 20 in 21 games from 2023 to 2025 for the Kings and Titans, who bought him at the 2025 auction for ₹10.75crore ($1.1million per current exchange rates), conceding over 10 runs per over. The 2026 edition has been different though. With 21 wickets in 13 matches he has helped the Titans secure a spot in the knockout rounds that begin on May 26. Only veteran Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has more wickets with 24. So, how does Rabada bounce back from his setbacks? He recalls speaking to his now-retired South Africa team-mate Hashim Amla during a bad run of form, searching for an alternate perspective. Amla, a top-order batter, was known for his unconventional bat lift while at the crease, with the toe of his bat pointing towards the left of the field rather than straight back as was the norm. “A lot of people thought he was going to fail in international cricket (because of that),” Rabada says. Amla scored just 62 runs in his first six Test innings after debuting in November 2004. “He was working on (changing his backlift) for a few weeks and scored a 100 (149 against New Zealand in Cape Town in January 2006),” Rabada says. Amla ended his Test career in 2019 with 9,282 runs — the 17th most all-time — from 124 Tests that included 28 centuries. “While looking at the tape, he looked exactly the same.” The episode taught him an important lesson: “To not become like someone else and get the best out of yourself by understanding what makes you stand out. For me, it was about being explosive. Not the same method works for everyone so it’s about understanding yourself.” Titans head coach Ashish Nehra has played a big part too in recent weeks. Nehra’s Test career lasted just 17 matches, but he was an ODI regular for India, playing 120 times and was part of their victorious 2011 World Cup campaign. “Ashish has been brilliant — I must give him so much credit. He is a deep thinker of the game but he doesn’t confuse you with what he says. He keeps it really simple.” In 2019, aged 24, Rabada described fast bowling as an “art”, referencing the athleticism it warrants and the joy he derives from setting up and troubling batters over several balls before claiming their wicket. His career performances suggest all that holds true but his answer rings a little different now he’s an experienced international cricketer. “The fast-bowling action is one of the most studied in the world. People have written papers on it,” he says before adding with a smile, “It’s not normal, it’s a bizarre action.” “I could bore you with a whole lot of pointers in technical aspects. I try to be more conscious of myself to get to what I felt made me a good bowler: my natural ability to be explosive.” Across a 12-year career, Rabada’s pace has rarely dropped, while he has developed variations to remain a threat across all formats. He has bowled over 20,000 balls in international cricket alone. Among contemporary greats, only Australia’s Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, six and five years his senior respectively, have bowled more balls. Only Jasprit Bumrah and Scott Boland boast better Test bowling averages than his 22.03. Bumrah has notably struggled with injuries, while Boland’s career is 19 Tests old. In a packed cricket calendar that includes matches in all three formats along with franchise leagues like the IPL and its South African counterpart, the SA20, Rabada’s mantra for being at his best is simple. “You got the basics, your sleep, analysis, gym work — but the most important is bowling,” he says. “You must bowl — the others are just supplements.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms