Kagiso Rabada has been part of some special Proteas teams.
Test series victories over the mighty Australia both home and away ranks high on the honours list.
But Rabada, 29, had to wait for a decade of playing international cricket – 66 Tests and 313 wickets – before he could savour a series success on the Indian sub-continent.
And this with an inexperienced South African side – at least at international level – and who fielded a batting unit that had only two Test centurions prior to the 2-0 series victory over Bangladesh.
The fact that it has now risen to five after the two matches past speaks volumes of the growth and development of this new generation of Proteas after they won by an innings and 273 runs in Chattogram yesterday.
Rabada claimed 5/37 in the first innings, with spinners Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy sharing nine in the second to wrap up the contest at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
“I thought losing the toss wasn’t the greatest of starts. But we quickly turned things around. Our batters capitalised in this game. They put us in a good position... that helped the bowlers to do their job,” said the world’s No 1-ranked Test bowler.
The growing qualities of Shukri Conrad’s Test charges have shown a return to the steely determination that Proteas teams of the past were renowned for.
Barring the golden era under Graeme Smith’s leadership that led to the Proteas annexing the ICC World Championship Test mace in 2012 – when the team were studded with superstars in both the batting and bowling department – the Test side have always been renowned for their grit and never-say-die attitude.
Top-order batting collapses were regular occurrences in the 1990s prior to the arrival of legends such as Smith, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers.
Often it was the abundance of all-rounders lower down the order, along with a feisty wicket-keeper in Dave Richardson and then Mark Boucher, that helped scrape together a target that was just enough for a high-quality bowling attack led by the searing pace and skill of Allan Donald that manufactured victories.
It seems that Conrad’s outfit opted for a retro mode of attack, particularly in Bangladesh, with both Wiaan Mulder (159 runs and four wickets) and Senuran Muthusamy (68 runs and five wickets) playing valuable all-round roles over the course of the last two Tests.
With the cushion of the extra runs to play with, it allowed Rabada to charge in, with the speedster picking up 14 wickets at the miserly average of 9.0 to be named as the Player of the Series.
“Every individual in this team is willing to put their hands up,” Rabada said. “And different individuals are putting their hands up.
“That’s why we are on top in this series. And it’s no surprise. We know we have the quality, especially in the bowling unit.”
5-wicket haul for Kagiso Rabada! 🔥🇿🇦
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 31, 2024
Our pace ace strikes again, tearing through the Bangladesh lineup with pure class and power!
Hats off, to the best to ever do it KG! 💥🏏 #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #BANvSA pic.twitter.com/EBdwNa4qRa
Such is Rabada’s focus on helping the team move forward and gain success that he even played down his return to the summit of the ICC Test bowling rankings.
“I don’t look at the rankings, where I’m at or whatever,” he said.
“The game moves on. You have to keep working hard. It’s a great achievement and a good motivator to keep going.”