Kagiso Rabada is desperate to deliver for the Proteas at the ODI World Cup in India.
Heading into his fourth World Cup campaign, and second in the 50-over format, the fast bowler has yet to produce a similar performance to that which propelled South Africa to U19 World Cup glory in 2014.
At the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, a barely-fit Rabada took only 11 wickets in nine matches, at an average of 36.09 and economy rate of 5.08, as the Proteas finished seventh on the 10-team log.
At last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, he picked up just two wickets in five matches, at an average of 75.50 and an economy rate of 9.43, as the Proteas failed to reach the semi-finals.
When asked by the Sunday Times if the World Cup had seen the best of him, Rabada said, “I don’t think it has. There have been some major disappointments for me frankly. The belief is still there, I am nowhere near done in my career.”
READ: Rassie ready to ramp it up for Proteas
Rabada insists that the failure of past Proteas teams to win the World Cup won’t affect the current team’s mindset.
“We want to win desperately of course, but I am certainly not paralysed by the thought of losing, because if you are, that is the first red flag,” he said.
“You can’t ignore the fact that South Africa hasn’t had the best runs in World Cups thus far, but why should we carry that burden of previous generations from other World Cups? We shouldn’t, because all you’re doing is thinking about what happened in the past, all we need to focus on is where we feel our shortcomings are and then set out clear goals for this tournament.
“It’s about winning when the odds are against us,” he added. “We have shown we can beat anyone with this team that we have got right now.”
