Kagiso Rabada has been a true warhorse for MI Cape Town and for the Proteas over the last several years. Coming back from a couple of tough seasons in the previous two editions of the SA20, he’s been a key figure in this MICT side, chipping in with useful performances in every game and carrying the side into the final. After another such performance, with figures of 2/18 in his four overs in the Qualifier against Paarl Royals, he was out at the post-match press conference. Excerpts.. 

On getting into the Final

We’re glad we ticked that off. Not taking anything for granted. Great start by Ryan (Rickelton) and Rassie (van der Dussen) and then well followed by the middle order. So, everyone’s ready to play and that’s what saw today. With the ball, under pressure, we responded well. We’ve done that all tournament and hopefully we do that in the final. 

On what has changed for the team from last year

We’ve always had the players, but now we got together. The senior group had a lot to do with pulling everyone together. Also a familiarity between the players. The South African players are backing each other. We have been playing two overseas players in quite a few games. Everyone on the bench is looking to make an impact. Anyone can come in anytime. Everyone is ready to play. That hunger is there. It was always there but we got together as a team to put in those crucial performances at crucial times. That’s what’s getting us over the line. 

Whether playing the Test match last month was good preparation for this wicket

This is a completely new tournament. There’s so much cricket being played that you have to hark everything that has happened before. Coming back to this field always brings good memories. The fans here are really good. Nice to come here and play here. Big cricket following and enthusiastic crowd. But I wasn’t thinking much about the Test match. Just looking at this game and winning it. 

On the impact of SA20 on local players 

The nice thing about the SA20 is that it exposes young players to high level of cricket. It would be nice for youngsters coming up to lift their hands against good quality opposition. You have players coming from overseas and also coaches. The youngsters coming in have an exciting platform. They are enthusiastic to show their skills and talent. They learn a lot faster, especially in the shorter format. That’s the positive about the SA20. You can see certain players playing in our local setup being pushed to this platform being surrounded by Proteas players, overseas players and overseas coaches. There can only be one way and that is upwards. 

On the pitches being bowling friendly in this year’s SA20

In cricket, generally, there must be something for either batter or bowler. You don’t want one way traffic in most games. You have to leave something for both batters and bowlers. It forces the batter to play some good shots and bowlers to bowl good balls more often than not and you get rewarded. If it is too flat most of the times, you’d might as well call it batting and not cricket. The pitches were good in Newlands because we were chasing scores of 160+ and setting scores of 160-170+. It brought both departments into play. In South Africa there is always something for the bowlers. Up north, there is something for the seamers and on the coast there is more for the spinners. That’s what we’ve seen. Along the line, you need balance. When teams have been three or four down in the powerplay, they always bounce back and score 160. But this season, I must say, the bowlers have been enjoying themselves. 

Thoughts on MI Cape Town’s bowling attack

I think it’s a very good bowling attack. Boulty (Trent)- has been dominating world cricket for a long time now. Rashid (Khan) has been doing it. I’ve been trying. Geroge (Linde) has been bowling really well and (Corbin) Bosch is showing the world what he can do. It’s really well balanced bowling attack, there’s spin and seam. There’s always a threat coming your way and it is a testament to the results we’ve produced. 

On which team he’d like to face in the final

We are excited. Really excited. We’ll play anyone. We can’t wait. 

On what inspires him and young kids

Seeing legends of the game play and perform well on a world’s platform gets you riled up and wanting to be like them, if not better. One thing to represent your country and win as many games as you can for your country, because cricket is one of the biggest sports in the world and a lot of people get to know about it. For me, it was that and being inspired to be like the people I watched.