CHENNAI: November 5, 2014. AS JP Duminy walks out with the teamsheet ahead of a T20I in Adelaide, a seminal moment in the history of South African cricket is being played out. Not many, though, latch on to the fact.
There are three debutants in the visiting team but it’s the third of the three that’s responsible for the watershed moment — Kagiso Rabada, South Africa’s first ‘born free’ cricketer.
It was a big deal not only because of the attached symbolism — “someone born in a country after its transition to democracy (in particular post-apartheid South Africa or post-independence Zimbabwe),” is how the Oxford dictionary describes the phrase. But what it meant from a sporting perspective.
There had been a radical shift towards introducing quotas in various sports as part of the transformation goals. A few commentators called this process ‘reverse racism’. Merit being sacrificed to conform to policies to right the wrongs carried out during aparthied.
Yet, here was a black 19-year-old who had already punched a ticket to stardom. At the Under-19 World Cup semifinal in 2014, Rabada took 6/25 against Australia to help his team win by 80 runs. In the final, he returned figures of 1/26 in 10 overs to help his country to their first ICC trophy this century and second overall after the 1998 KnockOut Trophy.
Since that debut under the Adelaide lights some 30 months ago, Rabada’s performances (including hat-trick on ODI debut) have been a middle-finger salute to everyone who have opposed quota places. Seventy-one wickets in 17 Tests, 57 in 34 ODIs and 22 in 16 T20Is. It was the sort of ‘have you noticed me yet?’ bowling that made Delhi Daredevils shell out `5 crores at the auction this year.
He came to know about his price — he wasn’t following the auction — through a text message from someone who was following it. Even then, he wasn’t sure what it (the amount) meant. “I had no idea what `5 crore was,” he tells Express. “After that, I saw on Twitter I had gone for that amount. I guessed it to be in the region of $750,000 thanks to experiences of past players.”
While he is yet to make IPL debut for Delhi, a franchise still looking for its first title, Rabada is looking forward to the season. “It’s a really good set-up with Paddy (Upton) and Rahul (Dravid). It’s been really good for me. Hopefully we can go a long way this year.”
Rabada, like most young sportsmen, likes his pranks but is also a cerebral cricketer. He did not feature at last year’s auction as he wanted to learn about bowling in England. A spell with Kent followed and he hopes to put it to use at the Champions Trophy. “We are all desperate to win it,” he says.
He, though, is the only one among the senior team to have won an ICC meet. He also comes with the added benefit of not carrying any ghosts from memories past. “We obviously need to give our best to have a shot at winning it. If we lose, so be it, but we are not thinking about losing.”
He does not want to talk about his role in the peaceful (Kagiso, incidentally, means peace) transformation of the policies laid down by the government. But he has already begun to inspire. Since his debut, two more ‘born free’ cricketers have played for the Rainbow Nation.
The first few of many, one hopes.
swaroop@newindianexpress.com