Proteas paceman Kagiso Rabada admitted his doping error after a strong showing on the first day of Wednesday’s World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia.
Rabada dominated the opening day of the WTC final at Lord’s in England, taking five wickets and bowling Australia out for 212 runs.
“Obviously it [doping] wasn’t my best moment, as I’ve alluded to. Now, life moves on,” Rabada said during a press conference on how the recent months of negative publicity motivated him in the build-up to the final.
“I think every game that I play for South Africa, I try to do my best. I didn’t try to give any more or any less effort than I usually do in all the games that I play for South Africa. So that’s all I tried to do today.”
The 30-year-old’s 5-51 also made him South Africa’s fourth-highest Test wicket-taker, surpassing ICC Hall of Famer Allan Donald’s 330 wicket total.
“I guess to be named in that list of bowlers is special. As a player growing up and representing South Africa, I’ve been inspired by those who’ve come before and seen what they’ve done on the big stage.
“As a kid, I was inspired to want to do the same thing. So, I guess to be listed in that list of names is something special, and long may it continue,” he said.
Dismal innings start
Having been left reeling at 43/4 heading into day two, the Proteas did not end the day on a high note.
Rabada emphasised that there is still a lot of cricket to play despite their dismal innings start.
“We’ll take [getting Australia out for] 212, but we also felt we could have had them out for 160. It’s the way the game goes.
“And right now, at 40-odd for four, it’s not the start we were looking for … But there’s still a lot of cricket to be played. We’ll keep going for it.”
David Bedingham and captain Temba Bavuma will continue the Proteas’ first innings at 11.30am on Thursday when day two gets underway.
