Dubai: After a very successful 2019 season with the Delhi Capitals where he picked up 25 wickets in just 12 matches, South Africa’s leading pacer Kagiso Rabada is all set to feature for the Delhi Capitals in the upcoming season of the Dream11 Indian Premier League in UAE.
The 25-year-old South African completed his six days of isolation on Sunday, and was back training with the rest of the Delhi Capitals’ squad on Monday evening. “It feels good to be running in, and to be with some teammates as well. It is of course some old teammates and some new ones,” he said post his first nets session with the franchise this season.
Speaking on the prospect of playing after having been off competition for the last five months due to the pandemic, Rabada said it was a unique moment for everyone to be playing again now. He said, “This (situation) is quite unique, not a lot of people get to do this. We’re in the middle of a desert, playing cricket – it’s something that I didn’t think I would ever be able to do. So it’s a lot of fun also.”
The second-highest wicket-taker in the IPL last season, Rabada also commented on how lockdown gave him the opportunity to take a break from cricket. “It’s been a high volume of cricket in the past five years for me, but I really enjoyed the break at home. I was just chilling with my family, getting to see my friends (virtually) during lockdown. So yeah being home was the best thing,” he said.
Speaking on how he feels ahead of the tournament, he said, “I feel quite strong. I think I just need to bowl more, and make sure I haven’t forgotten how to bowl (laughs). I need to keep up with the bowling practice, but otherwise I feel healthy.”
Commenting on his team, which finished third in 2019, Rabada said he’s hoping for Delhi Capitals to be the most consistent team. “We had a really good season, so I know that we can challenge and win this competition because we came really close last season, so mentally I guess that helps. But also, it is a new tournament so we have to start again and we’ve got a nice group put together, nice team,” said Rabada, who has 31 wickets in his IPL career in just 18 matches.
“We have to start again and start the whole process, so hopefully we can get off to a good start but win at the end of the season – we want to be the most consistent team and win at times when we really, really need to win,” he added.
