Former England captain Nasser Hussain has hailed Proteas star Kagiso Rabada as the perfect role model for fellow fast bowler Jofra Archer.

Rabada has taken 183 wickets across 40 Tests since 2015’s debut. Archer, meanwhile, has gathered 24 in six since August 2019’s debut. They will compete against each other in this month and the next’s four-Test series in South Africa.

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‘Rabada is the perfect role model for Jofra. They bowl at similar speeds, have similar athleticism and there are big expectations on both of them from England and South Africa in this Test series and beyond. Both can be superstars,’ Hussain told the Daily Mail.

‘Rabada, of course, has shown the way. He was the youngest bowler to be ranked number one in the world and since then he has set consistently high standards.

‘The key to Rabada’s success is his ability to bowl high speeds for long spells and very rarely do those speeds drop off, which is something Archer can look at and learn from.

‘South Africa’s spearhead has an exceptional bouncer but he doesn’t get carried away with it and will invariably bowl a good length. Perhaps his biggest asset is an incredibly quick arm that comes at you from nowhere.

‘That fire in his belly goes a long way towards making Rabada the bowler he is and you do not want to quash that but the last thing South Africa need is for him to miss any more games because he is so important to them.’

The first Test will start at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday. Newlands in Cape Town, St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth and the Wanderers in Johannesburg will host the second, third and fourth Test, respectively.

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