Mushfiqur Rahim has been out like this many times in his career. With a huge gap between his bat-pads. The ball hits the stamp at lightning speed. South African pacer Kagisu Rabada took that opportunity. He was successful.
Mirpur‘s 22 yards are well-known for Rabada. He made his ODI debut here in 2015. Rabada returned to this field after a long time. He returned at a time when he was close to the milestone of three hundred wickets in Test cricket. He did not keep himself waiting. Rabada reached the milestone with the wicket of Mushfiqur. Then two more wickets.
Test cricket in South Africa has a rich history. Rabada is following the path shown by Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn. The 29-year-old pacer became the sixth Protea cricketer to take three hundred wickets. There are ways to be more than happy with unique achievements.
At the press conference at the end of the day, he showed his excitement by saying, ‘When I came to bowl this morning, I wasn’t really thinking about that final wicket. I was more focused on how I was going to win this Test, especially after losing the toss and bowling first. But when it happened, it was just a relief. Everyone plays for milestones, but this was a relief. The way my teammates support me, we support each other and it felt really good. It’s a special moment. For the record, I didn’t know about it, but I guess it will motivate me to do better.’
Where Rabada will take himself is next. For now, all his thoughts revolve around the Mirpur Test. Where 16 wickets fell on the first day. After 10 wickets for the hosts, the visitors lost 6 wickets. Rabada’s face also has a big smile on such a wicketless day for the bowlers. However, this pacer is surprised by Mirpur’s 22 yards. Only he is not alone. The entire South African team was surprised by the wicket. Hear the rest from his mouth, ‘We were surprised by the way the wicket behaved. We thought there would be vortices, no nips in the new ball. But there was a new ball movement. There was no big swing. But off the wicket has made as much movement as it has been earned.’
‘This is what we found on the net. This is usually the case. What you get at the net is what you get in the match. There is also a turn for spinners. Again there is sim movement for pacers too. We were quite surprised. Don’t prepare the pitches, but this is what was prepared.’ – added these fast bowlers.
Sub-continent teams often offer spin wickets to teams outside the sub-continent. Pace-friendly wickets are not available very often. This time there is a little exception. Along with the spinners, the pacers have also been brilliant. While Hasan Mahmud got only one wicket for Bangladesh, South Africa’s Rabada and Mulder got 3 wickets each.
Rabada wanted a balanced bat-ball battle and an even wicket for spin and pace bowlers to make Test cricket competitive, ‘I think there needs to be balance in Test cricket. If you want a fair competition between bat and ball. The kind of wickets you want…you can argue that the bowling unit didn’t bowl well or a batting unit didn’t perform and that’s the balance you’re always trying to control. But with 16 wickets on day one, I’d say it’s leaning towards the bowlers. Test cricket should be a fair competition between bat and ball, where the bowlers get something if they bowl well and the batsmen get runs if they apply themselves.’
South Africa have taken a 34-run lead in the first innings so far with only 4 wickets in hand. When asked how many runs can be safe, Rabada said, ‘We will try to score as many runs as possible. We now have a lead of 34 runs. If we get a 100 run lead it will be great. I hope we can reach our goals.’
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