Cricket
Exclusive: “If It Didn’t Hurt, I Would Have Hung My Boots Up,” Kagiso Rabada Reflects on World Cup Final Loss
Kagiso Rabada reflects on South Africa's painful 2024 ICC T20 World Cup final loss to India, sharing how the defeat shaped him as a cricketer
Image Credits: Darrian Traynor-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
Ahead of the on-going Bangladesh Test series, Proteas fast bowler, Kagiso Rabada, reckons that they currently have the best fast bowling resources in the world.
When you go through four World Cups, ICC Men's T20 World Cups that is, you become a completely different player in the field and man away from the game.
Four World Cup campaigns can have a massive impact on a player, more so if you have gone through all of them without winning a single edition.
Proteas fast bowler, Kagiso Rabada, has had to live that reality having made his T20 World Cup debut in India in 2016, in a campaign where South Africa failed to get past the Super 10 stage of the tournament.
Three years later, Rabada would then go to the UAE with the Temba Bavuma-led Proteas World Cup team for yet another attempt at the illusive trophy.
Despite having had a brilliant team in that particular campaign, South Africa was knocked out in the group stage, with the low net run rate their demise.
The same happened in the following year in Australia, and that made the team hungrier for glory in the 2024 edition. Having made it to the final of the 2024 edition, South Africa lost by seven runs to India.
That final was more hurtful given that South Africa only needed 25 runs in the last four overs, with batter Henrich Klaasen fully set in the run chase with a half-century in his name and six wickets in hand.
However, South Africa lost wickets in clusters, leading to a stinging experience in the final. In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom, Rabada attempted to express just how hurtful that experience was.
"Oh.. we should have won it. It was so painful. It was really painful," said Rabada.
"You know what, it took me a while to get over that final, it was that painful. I mean, I was in the United States at the time and playing in the Major League Cricket... at the moment I feel like I have to move on,” he told SportsBoom.com.
"I dealt with it over time. It's just about letting go and being comfortable with the reality. The only way to be comfortable with it is to think about what transpired. If it didn't hurt, then, I would have hung my boots up, but it hurt a lot. I won't lie, it hurt a lot."
Through all the disappointments of that night at Kensington Oval in Barbados, Rabada has had to take lessons from the experience.
The 29-year-old told SportsBoom that he came out a better player having had to endure that loss.
The only thing is that you've gained some experience in moments like that. You can look in hindsight and think about changing certain things but what it does is it teaches you some lessons in terms of yourself.
Kagiso Rabada
"The whole cricket journey, bettering your game and travelling, everything that comes with this game, it's literally about bettering yourself.
"That's what it's about. I guess you can tribute all the moments that you face to better yourself. It's about getting better every time you play, every time you get into moments like that, the big moments. That's what it's about... But that particular game was... You just don't want to overthink it; it's about finding a way."
Rabada will now shift his focus to Test cricket as he is set to spearhead the Proteas Test bowling attack in Bangladesh in a two-match series which has already begun.
Rabada says that the Proteas currently have the best fast bowlers in world cricket.
"South Africa right now, we have really good fast bowlers. It's so good to see. If you look all over the world, I think we have the best fast bowlers," he said.
"If you look at our fast bowlers, any of them can make the first-string team. What it does, is it causes good competition. It also causes replacement. If anyone gets injured, then someone else can just come in."
Ongama Gcwabe is an experienced Sports Journalist based in South Africa. In his career, Ongama’s work has been published in the country’s biggest newspapers company, Independe Newspapers, and some of the leading news and sports websites including IOL Sport.