The trademark sledging from Australia is expected to be aimed extensively at Kagiso Rabada this coming week at Lord’s, but even so, Proteas legend Makhaya Ntini has urged the star pacer not to be distracted, as he will be key in deciding the outcome of the Championship.
South Africa and defending champions Australia will finally meet at the hallowed home of cricket, the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, for their much-anticipated final.
Rabada will be in the spotlight following his one-month suspension over the use of cocaine early this year, and Ntini says the 30-year-old should brace himself to be bombarded by the Australians.
“We all know that Rabada is a key figure when it comes to our bowling attack. He has been so good in the past two to three years,” Ntini said during an interview with Sunday World.
“But going to the championship, he needs to be able to bowl more overs than anyone else to make sure that South Africa does well in the Test match. There is already a lot of pressure on him after what happened.
“And we all know that the Australians are going to try and target him to make sure he doesn’t get wickets. But if he is patient enough, he will overcome it because he has experience and has been through all that kind of pressure before.”
Rabada will, of course, have a strong bowling support of Marco Jansen, Lungisani Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch.
However, Ntini is still adamant that a patient and in-form Rabada will be key to unlocking the highly experienced Australian batting line-up and ultimately guide the Proteas to glory from the bowling front.
“This is going to be a tough game. But he will need to be the leader that we all know him to be … show resilience, be patient, and make sure that there’s nothing that will come in the way of his game.
“He must control the controllables, hit the right areas all the time, and if he does that, I think he will be successful,” Ntini added.
Rabada himself has since vowed not to let the media and Australian players slow him down, as he knows what lies ahead in arguably the biggest Test match of their careers.
