Can Kagiso Rabada reclaim his spark?

In the sweltering, heavy air of Delhi on Wednesday, the scorecard at the Arun Jaitley Stadium told a story that has become uncomfortably familiar to South African cricket fans.

As the Proteas clinically dismantled the United Arab Emirates to maintain their flawless run in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Kagiso Rabada’s statistical column remained stubbornly, almost defiantly, empty. Four overs. Thirty runs. Zero wickets.

For a man who has spent the better part of a decade as the undisputed spearhead of the South African attack, that “zero” is beginning to carry a psychological weight far greater than a mere digit.

In the high-octane world of T20 cricket, where momentum is everything, Rabada seems to be a man running at full tilt on a treadmill, putting in the effort and hitting the lengths, yet remaining in the same place while his teammates gallop towards the Super 8 stage.

Those within the Proteas’ inner sanctum aren’t reaching for the panic button just yet. To hear his teammates tell it, the story isn’t one of a decline in skill but rather a relentless run of sporting misfortune.

Corbin Bosch, the man of the hour, whose career-best 3/12 tore through the UAE middle order, was quick to act as a human shield for his senior partner. Speaking after collecting his Player of the Match award, Bosch was adamant that the leader of the attack was merely a victim of the game’s cruellest margins.

He noted that Rabada had been “unlucky” early on, specifically citing a top edge that, on another day, would have settled into a fielder’s hands but instead sailed over the ropes for six.

“I think one or two balls actually stood up quite nicely and I got the better end of the result. I think we kept the plan quite simple.”

Bosch’s success, by his own admission, was built on the foundations laid by Rabada and teenage sensation Kwena Maphaka. By watching the senior bowlers “hit the deck hard”, Bosch was able to decipher the cryptic messages of the Delhi pitch. He reaped the rewards of Rabada’s opening burst, benefiting from the pressure built by the veterans.

“I think KG got a bit unlucky early on with the top edge going for six,” said Bosch. “I luckily had the luxury of watching KG, Ana [Anrich Nortje], and Kwena [Maphaka] going about their business. I think there was enough in the wicket if you hit the deck quite hard.”

However, the decision to play Rabada in what was essentially a “dead rubber” fixture spoke volumes. While other linchpins of the side, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and the evergreen Keshav Maharaj, were rested and kept in cotton wool for the battles ahead, Rabada was sent out into the heat.

The logic was clear: he needed rhythm. Having gone wicketless in four of his past seven T20 internationals, the 30-year-old is a hunter who has forgotten the taste of a kill.

The UAE clash provided a microcosm of his struggle. It wasn’t just the boundaries; it was the “almosts” that haunted his spell. There was the sharp chance spilt by Quinton de Kock, a wicketkeeper whose hands are usually as reliable as a Swiss watch but who, on this occasion, offered Rabada only an apologetic shrug. There were the edges that fell in no-man’s land and the deliveries that beat the bat by the width of a seam.

As South Africa prepares to move from the group stages to the cut-throat environment of the Super 8s, the narrative surrounding Rabada will intensify. The Proteas are undefeated, flying high on the back of Dewald Brevis’s explosive hitting and a bowling unit that has shown remarkable depth. But as they look ahead to a blockbuster rematch with India in Ahmedabad, they know that “depth” is no substitute for a firing Kagiso Rabada.

In the grand theatre of South African cricket, Rabada has often been the protagonist who delivers the final act. For the Proteas to shed their historical baggage and finally claim a global trophy, they need Rabada to be more than “unlucky”. They need him to find that missing spark, the one that turns a good spell into a match-winning one. 

The road to the Super Eight 

The Proteas now turn their attention to a demanding Super Eight schedule. Their campaign resumes with a high-voltage clash against India in Ahmedabad on Sunday, 22 February, followed by a quick turnaround to face the West Indies in the same venue on Thursday, 26 February.

South Africa will then wrap up this stage of the tournament back in Delhi, where they are set to take on Zimbabwe on Sunday, 1 March.