We’re all willing to make it happen, says Kagiso Rabada on ambition to lead South Africa to ODI WC glory

Johannesburg, Aug 18 (IANS) South Africa’s pace-bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada has stated that the team is willing to achieve the glory of winning the upcoming Men’s ODI World Cup in India, adding that the side is not paying attention to outside noise.

Rabada was a member of the South Africa team winning the 2014 Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in the UAE for the very first time, alongside his current senior teammates Aiden Markram and Andile Phehlukwayo. But ever since he burst on the international scene, Rabada is yet to achieve silverware success with the senior South Africa men’s team.

“All this drama outside about South African cricket and World Cups...we’re not paying attention to it really. Having been to World Cups and not winning silverware, it’s disappointing ... I won’t lie,” he said.

“I’m willing to make it happen, we’re all willing to make it happen. Winning a World Cup is something that I would love to do. It’s something every player that’s in the set-up would love to do. The only thing going there, once the squad is announced, is to win it,” Rabada was quoted as saying by iol.co.za.

Rabada, who was last seen in cricketing action for MI New York during the inaugural MCL in the USA, is working on polishing his skills and was a part of the recent Proteas camp, which happened in Durban last month.

“We had a camp in Durban, and we just came off a camp in Pretoria. We see really good things coming out of these camps, and we have another one coming up just before the series against Australia.”

“The (World Cup) squad hasn’t been announced yet, but the guys are really eager. We can’t wait to go there. Whoever is chosen, I’m sure everyone can’t wait to go and play some competitive cricket. This process, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it personally. I’m looking forward to keeping going on with the process and just being competitive.”

Asked about managing his workload ahead of the Men’s ODI World Cup, Rabada said, “It’s important to identify periods of rest because there’s so much cricket happening at the moment.”

“You don’t want to go to the World Cup overcooked…You don’t want to go to the World Cup or any series undercooked or overcooked. It’s about finding the right balance.”

In the run-up to the Men’s ODI World Cup, South Africa will play three T20Is against Australia, before playing five ODIs against the five-time World Cup winners. Rabada, who has 137 scalps in 89 games, feels the series against Australia will be a perfect way to see where they stand as an ODI side.

“We’ve challenged the way we want to play; we’ve challenged how we want to get better as a unit. Australia will be perfect practice to see where we are with that, and to continue making tweaks.”

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