Kagiso Rabada will join England county Kent for a month, in July.

Talk of Rabada joining an English county first emerged during the Test series against England, when it received coach Russell Domingo’s stamp of approval.

Now that it has materialised, it can only benefit South Africa in the long run as they are scheduled to tour England in 2017.

Rabada’s four-week spell will include six T20s, two one-day games and one first-class match. He will join Kent after South Africa’s ODI tri-series in West Indies, which ends on June 26.

‘KG [Rabada] had the option of going into the IPL,’ his T20 captain Faf du Plessis said. ‘But he saw more value in going and playing county cricket. The nice thing for him is that South Africa will be touring there next year. He hasn’t bowled with the Duke ball, he hasn’t played in those conditions. I do think it’s massively important for a young guy to go over there.

‘The key for him is not to bowl too much when he’s over there,’ Du Plessis added. ‘I know that, especially when you play county cricket overseas, bowlers can sometimes be over-bowled. KG wants to learn. He’s got such a great head on his shoulders. He doesn’t think he is the finished article. He wants to get used to those conditions and be a better player after that. He’s so young, he’s still got plenty of years to go and play in the IPL.’

Du Plessis explained why county cricket will be a better option for Rabada at this stage of his career.

‘At the IPL, you are going to bowl a lot. You playing 18 or 19 T20 games and practising every game, you bowl a lot. In county cricket someone can monitor his overs a little bit better and he’s only going for a month. It’s more of not over-bowling him too much in this early part of his career.’