RIGHT from the beginning of 2019, the Proteas ship started to sink across all formats and even off the field in the offices at Cricket South Africa.
The Proteas Test side started that year with a historic series loss to Sri Lanka, then endured their worst ODI World Cup campaign in the United Kingdom in winter. They subsequently suffered a beating in a Test series in India before coming back home to lose another Test series to England in summer.
In the same year, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Dale Steyn retired and all of a sudden, Faf du Plessis was left with Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma as the experienced guys in the batting department while Kagiso Rabada was the senior in the bowling front.
In those five years, the Proteas Test side has been at its lowest, especially from a batting point of view as the side struggled to put 300 plus totals and centuries were also hard to come by.
Rabada, having started his career dominating the world and being the number one Test bowler in the world also fell off as any player would in such a difficult period.
The fast bowler would spend two years, from January 2019 to May 2021, without picking up a five-wicket haul and five years without getting back to the top of the rankings in Test cricket.
Following his player-of-the-series performance in Bangladesh, Rabada reclaimed his spot at the top of the rankings and picked up two five-wicket hauls in the series.
However, the Bangladesh series was not only his return to his best, but it was the Proteas’ return to their best.
Speaking about the journey from 2019, Rabada says he and a few others were exposed to the great Proteas Test teams of the past and now it is starting to show off.
“We went through a transition phase when all the GOATS retired and all these guys that you’re seeing now like Wiaan (Mulder), Keshav (Maharaj) and myself, we’ve been exposed. Lungi was there,” Rabada told the media yesterday.
“Now I think we’re almost coming into a bit of a sweet spot. Also, what I’ve been really impressed about is the guys that have recently come on board and how they are making an impact.”
Besides Rabada, Maharaj and Mulder who got the exposure, the Proteas have since welcomed coach Shukri Conrad and the 57-year-old has brought a different mindset to the team.
Rabada says that Conrad’s impact starts in his character-based player selections which then translates to the series victories.
The 29-year-old says that his new teammates have the hunger and determination to replicate and do better what the great Proteas teams of the past achieved.
“The way Shuks has picked the team, he speaks about character and I think that’s probably the most important point. We have so many guys putting their hands up to perform and that’s what you’re seeing because of that character,” said Rabada.
“I was actually very impressed when India came to South Africa. I think that’s when it really struck me. Yes, West Indies as well but I thought India was a big test.
“The wickets were spicy but you had guys like Bedders and Tony, they put their hands up in that series. For me, having a look at that India series when things were tough at Centurion facing a good attack, that’s what really stuck out for me. That’s when I was like this group is really up for it.”