Kagiso Rabada Biography – From a Rugby player to the furious Cricket Bowler!
Family Background of Kagiso Rabada:
Kagiso Rabada is a South African fast bowler born on May 25, 1995. His father, Mpho Rabada, is a doctor, and his mother, Florence Rabada, is a lawyer. He has a brother named Atlegang Rabada.
He spent his childhood mostly in Gauteng’s Mamelodi & Johannesburg’s West Rand. He started his sports career by playing Rugby for his school team.
Then after the offseason of Rugby, he started playing cricket. However, the selectors of the A-level cricket team and the Rugby team. So he decided to quit Rugby and started focusing only on cricket.
Later, he won a sports scholarship from St. Stithians, where he improved his skills and started playing age-level cricket.
Kagiso Rabada Biography:
| Rabada’s Profile | |
|---|---|
| Personal Life | |
| Full Name | Kagiso Rabada |
| Nickname | KG |
| Birth Place | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Date of Birth | May 25, 1995 |
| Age | 29 years 6 months (in December, 2024) |
| Nationality | South African |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Zodiac/Sun Sign | Gemini |
| School | Bryanston Parallel Medium School |
| College | St. Stithians Boys College |
| Physical Stats | |
| Height | 6ft. 3” (1.9m) (190 cm) |
| Weight | 86 kg (190 lbs) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Family & Relationships | |
| Father | Mpho Rabada |
| Mother | Florence Rabada |
| Siblings | 1 brother (Atlegang Rabada) |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Girlfriend | Not Known |
| Career | |
| Profession | Cricketer |
| Playing Role | Bowler |
| Batting Style | Left-hand bat |
| Bowling Style | Right-arm fast |
| Major Teams | South Africa, Gauteng, Gauteng Under-19s, Lions, South Africa A, South Africa Colts XI, South Africa Under-19s, Delhi Capitals |
| International Test Debut | India vs South Africa at Mohali (November 5, 2015) |
| ODI Debut | Bangladesh vs South Africa at Dhaka (July 10, 2015) |
| T20I Debut | Australia vs South Africa at Adelaide, (November 5, 2014) |
| First-Class Debut | Gauteng vs Easterns at Johannesburg (March 13, 2014) |
| List-A Debut | Border vs Gauteng at East London (December 8, 2013) |
| T-20 Debut | Griqualand West va Gauteng at Kimberley (January 26, 2014) |
Cricket Career of Rabada:
In 2013, he started his Domestic cricket career with a List-A cricket match, which went normal, but he still got selected in the 2014 U-19 World Cup. In the semi-final against Australia in the tournament, he took six wickets for 25 runs, ultimately leading his team to win the U-19 World Cup.
Along with India’s Kuldeep Yadav and Namibia’s JB Wessels, Rabada was the second-highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets, whereas Srilanka’s SANJ Fernando was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament.
His splendid performances in the World Cup earned him a contract with the Lions, a Central Gauteng and North West Provinces’ cricket franchise. In February 2015, he took 14 wickets for 105 runs against the Dolphins, a record in the franchise cricket.
Dale Steyn was the previous record holder with the same number of wickets but, it cost him 110 runs.
Domestic Cricket Career:
On December 8, 2013, he made his List-A Cricket career debut for Gauteng against Border. In this match, he took two wickets for 48 runs in his eight overs.
After 1 & a half months, in January 2014, Rabada made his T20 debut against Grequaland, in which his bowling stats were 3/12 in 4 overs.
Later, On March 13, 2014, he made his First-Class Cricket debut against Easterns. His bowling stats in the match were 15 overs, five maidens, 3/28 in first innings & 9 overs, four maidens, 11 runs for no wicket.
International Cricket Career:
On November 5, 2014, Kagiso made his international cricket debut at age of 19 with a T20 match against Australia in which his stats were three overs & 0 wickets for 27 runs.
At the age of 20, in 2015, on July 10, he made his ODI debut versus Bangladesh. Rabada’s record stats in the match were – 8 overs, three maidens & 6 wickets with a hat-trick for 16 runs. He also won the Man of the Match award.
Before Kagiso Rabada, Allen Donald was the only South African player who took a hat-trick on his ODI debut match.
On November 5, 2015, he made his Test Debut versus India in India. Kagiso’s stats in the match were ten overs, 30 runs for one wicket in 1st innings & 7 maidens, 0/19 runs in 12 overs. He scored a total of two runs & remained not out in the match.
In April 2019, he was selected for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Later, he also played in the 2021 T20I world cup, where he took his first T20I hat-trick against England.
IPL Career of Rabada:
In IPL 2017, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) signed Rabada for five crores (INR). He played six matches in the season and took six wickets with an economy of 8.81. His best bowling figures in the season were 2/20.
He missed the IPL 2018 season due to his back injury.
In IPL 2019, Kagiso was bought by Delhi Capitals with a salary of 4.20 Crores via RTM (Right to Match). CSK bought him, but DD (now DC) used the RTM to get him in their squad.
His base price at the IPL auction was 1.5 crores. He played 12 matches in the tournament & took 25 wickets with an economy of 7.28. His best bowling figures were 4/21.
Rabada played for the same team in IPL 2020 and became the purple cap holder (for taking the highest 30 wickets) of the season. He remained with DC for IPL 2021 too.
After that, Punjab Kings (PBKS) bagged him at the auction for 9.25 crore for IPL 2022.
Facts about Kagiso Rabada:
- In the African language, Kagiso means peace, but he has been quite aggressive on the field.
- Initially, he used to play Rugby.
- He runs a foundation for Underprivileged children.
- At 22 years & 231 days, Kagiso Rabada became the youngest bowler to be ranked no. 1 in Test Cricket. He broke the record of George Lohmann, who has held the record for nearly 130 years.
- His favorite bowlers – Shane Warne, Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, Malcolm Marshall, and Wasim Akram.
- Rabada is the only bowler after Fidel Edwards (West Indies), who took a six-wicket haul on his ODI debut match.
- CSA named him the South African Cricketer of the year 2016. His first international wicket was Glenn Maxwell.
- Kagiso Rabada is only the third South African to take an ODI hat-trick after Charl Langeveldt & JP Duminy.
- He was the leading Test wicket-taker of the year 2018. He got 52 wickets in 20 innings with an average of 20.07.
- In 2018, he became the youngest bowler to take 150 Test wickets at the age of 23 years & 50 days. Previously, the record was with India’s Harbhajan Singh (23 years & 106 days).
- On January 22, 2016, Kagiso Rabada became the youngest South African to take ten wickets in a match at 20 years & 242 days. He took 13 wickets against England at the Centurion ground.
- Kagiso was named as the best young player by Wisden in the year 2018.
- He likes to listen to music, play the piano & enjoy playing FIFA.
- KG is an avid book reader.
- In January 2021, he completed his 200 Test wickets and became the third quickest bowler to do so (in 8154 balls).
6 Awards at Cricket South Africa’ Awards:
Kagiso Rabada won 6 CSA (Cricket South Africa) Awards in 2018.:-
- SA Cricketer of the Year.
- Castle Lager Test Cricketer of the Year.
- Castle Lager ODI Cricketer of the Year.
- SA Players’ Player of the Year.
- SA Fans’ Player of the Year.
- RAM Delivery of the Year.
Frequently asked questions on Google:
Q1: What is the age of Rabada?
Ans: 29 years 6 months (in December, 2024)
Q2: What is the height of Kagiso Rabada?
Ans: 6ft. 3″
Q3: What is the bowling speed of Rabada?
Ans: He can consistently bowl between 140-150 Kmph.
Q4: Who is the wife of Kagiso Rabada?
Ans: He is not married yet.
Social Media Accounts:
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