‘I am willing to give my blood for this team’ - Kagiso Rabada elated to win ICC trophy with this South African team

‌Though Aiden Markram won the Player of the Match for South Africa in their WTC final win against Australia at Lord’s, for his stroke-filled century in the second innings and his match-defining partnership with captain Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada played an equally pivotal role in the title win. The pacer picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings to restrict the Aussies to 212 before taking four in the second to record impressive match figures of 9/110.

Returning from a one-month ban for recreational drug use and playing in a Test match after five months, Rabada once again proved why he is the most sought-after pacer in Test cricket with an immediate impact in a big match. As he rightly acknowledged, his self-belief was what stood out in a huge moment like this.

"There are normally two voices in your head, the one that doubts and the one that believes. The second is the one that we keep feeding, especially in big moments like this, the World Test Championship final," Rabada told reporters at Lord's after the match. "That's why you saw the performances you saw. It's a testament to our team this season."

With Australia recovering well from a precarious 73/7 in the second innings with a partnership of 61 between Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc, Rabada stepped in to break the key association trapping Carey in front. He also went on to dismiss Nathan Lyon the next morning as the Proteas restricted the Australian innings to 207, with the overall lead at 281. The South African head coach Shukri Conrad also acknowledged the pacer’s effort in the second innings calling him a superstar.

"Where did we turn it around? Obviously, that bowling performance, because we could easily have fallen asleep in the field and then they would have gotten away from us in a big way," Conrad said. "As for KG - that's why he's the superstar. He knew we had one chance at it."

But Rabada was humble enough not to get carried away by the words of his coach as he explained that he wanted to give everything for the team’s cause. But Conrad can be faulted for calling Rabada a superstar as the pacer has already picked up 336 wickets in his illustrious Test career spanning 71 matches at an impressive average of 21.74 and a strike rate of 38.9. The 30-year-old pacer went past Allan Donald’s tally of 330 wickets during the WTC final to be placed fourth in the list of most Test wickets by a Proteas bowler behind Dale Steyn, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini.

"I don't see myself as a star," he said. "I see myself as someone who's willing to give my blood for this team and continue working hard and improving. That's me as a cricketer, always wanting to improve and playing for the badge with a lot of pride. I've been working extremely hard, and those second-innings spells, those are the ones that count more, when you're a bit tired. This time, we were behind the game. But I think it was just about staying calm and looking at what's in front of us. That's the way I see myself."

With South Africa breaking the duck in ICC tournaments after a long gap of 27 years after suffering countless heartbreaks, Rabada was understandably emotional about the moment. And the cherry on top was they beat Australia, the best team in ICC tournament knockouts to win their second ICC title.

"I'll never forget this in my life. None of the boys will forget this in their lives. Playing against Australia, they're a well-accustomed team, a bit of an aging team, with all due respect. Some of those guys were playing when we were still in high school," he said. "So this is special, special, special. It hasn't sunk in yet. I can't really describe,” he signed off.