Kagiso Rabada

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kagiso Rabada

• Does Kagiso Rabada smoke: Not Known

• Does Kagiso Rabada drink alcohol: Yes

• Rabada went to St. Stithians Boys College, the same school as New Zealand’s Grant Elliot and England’s Michael Lumb. He graduated from school in 2013.

• Rabada’s father is a brain surgeon by profession and a philanthropist at heart. Young Rabada would often accompany his kind father to various impoverished black neighborhoods in Johannesburg for the purpose of gifting shoes and clothes to kids.

• His first impact as an effective fast bowler came to light at the ICC U-19 cricket World Cup. In a match against the Kangaroos, Rabada garnered exceptional figures of 6/25, the best bowling performance in the tournament.

• Rabada recorded the best-ever figures (6/16) by any bowler on his ODI debut. He and Fidel Edwards are the only bowlers in the world to have taken a six-wicket haul in their first ODI.

• This debut became even more special for Rabada because of a Hat-trick. He bowled Tamim Iqbal in the third ball of his second over and then had Litton Das and Mahmudullah in the next two deliveries to complete the set.

• Rabada is the third South African to hold an ODI hat-trick. Bowler Charl Langeveldt and all-rounder JP Duminy are the only other players to hold this accolade. Additonally, Rabada became the second bowler to pull-off an ODI hat-trick on debut; first being, Bangladesh’s left-arm spinner Taijul Islam. Interestingly, both these hat-tricks came at the same venue- Mirpur Cricket stadium.

• Also, he is the second South African after the great Allan Donald to take a five-wicket haul on debut. Overall, he is the 11th player in the world to take 5 wickets or more on ODI debut.