Kagiso Rabada

National Team: South Africa National Cricket Team ( TEST ODI T20I )

Domestic Team: Imperial Lions ( FC LO T20 )

Domestic Team: Punjab Kings cricket team ( T20 )

Date of Birth: 25.05.1995

Batting Style: Left Hand

Role: Bowler

Bowling Style: Right-arm Fast Seam

Batting

Pos. Score

Bowling

Pos. Score

All-rounder

Pos. Score

Test Rankings

104 245

8 799807

13 197

ODI Rankings

120 335

1 719

12 227

T20I Rankings

751 56

65 513

147 28

Kagiso Rabada Is a Bowler of South Africa Cricket Team

Kagiso Rabada is a South African international cricketer, one of the best bowlers of his generation, who represents the national team across all three formats: Test, ODI and T20I. He is an ICC World Test Championship 2025 gold medallist with the South African national team. Rabada is one of the few bowlers in the world capable of clocking speeds above 155 km/h. Over the years, he has topped the ICC bowler rankings in both ODI and Test cricket.

Kagiso Rabada: Biography and Sports Career

Kagiso Rabada was born on 25 May 1995 in Johannesburg, the largest metropolitan city in South Africa. Unlike many other famous South African players, Kagiso grew up in a comfortable, educated and well-off urban middle-class family. For his parents – his father Mpho Rabada, a medical doctor, and his mother Florence Rabada, a lawyer, getting a higher education and building successful careers under apartheid meant breaking through enormous systemic and social barriers. That is exactly why the athlete so often stresses in interviews how deeply he values their hard work and the opportunities they were able to give him.

“My parents didn’t have it easy during apartheid but I was blessed. I have been blessed in some sense to get opportunities and be able to thrive in my talent. So I feel fortunate because a lot of kids don’t get that kind of support”. These words from the athlete were quoted by Rediff.com, a major Indian news and entertainment portal.

Rabada took his first serious steps in cricket at the prestigious St Stithians College, where he studied. Interestingly, under the guidance of coach Roger Dyers, Kagiso initially tried himself out as an opening batsman and only later switched over to fast bowling. Thanks to the high pace and accuracy of his deliveries, Kagiso quickly caught the eye of scouts and was called up to the South Africa Under-19 squad for the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

At that tournament, which was held in the UAE, South Africa won the title for the first time in its history, beating Pakistan in the final. Rabada himself finished as the second-highest wicket-taker of the entire tournament, picking up 14 wickets in 5 matches with a stunning bowling average of 10.28. His performance at the championship firmly cemented his status as one of the most promising young players on the planet and opened the door for him to senior international cricket.

After showing such a mature game in the UAE, the young bowler immediately landed on the radar of the Proteas selectors. His senior international debut in the T20 format came in 2014, and already in 2015 he made his first appearances in Test and ODI cricket, instantly setting several major milestones and world records. On 10 July 2015, in a match against Bangladesh, Rabada became only the second player in the history of world cricket to take a hat-trick in his very first ODI match. In that same match, Kagiso Rabada finished with figures of 6 wickets for just 16 runs, or 6/16, in 8 overs – the best ever figures by a debutant in the history of One Day International cricket. That performance was only the starting point in a run of later impressive achievements:

• 2015: named among the cricketers of the year by the South African Cricket Annual;
• 2016: became the youngest South African bowler to take 10 or more wickets in a single Test match; won a record 6 Cricket South Africa, or CSA, awards, including the title of Cricketer of the Year;
• 2017: topped the ICC world rankings for the best ODI bowlers for the first time in his career;
• 2018: became the youngest bowler in the history of Test cricket to reach 150 wickets, moving past the legendary Harbhajan Singh; topped the ICC world rankings in the Test format and once again won 6 awards at the CSA Awards ceremony;
• 2020: won the prestigious Purple Cap as the best bowler of the Indian Premier League, or IPL, season after taking 30 wickets for Delhi Capitals;
• 2021: became the first South African bowler in history to take a hat-trick in a T20I match; reached the T20 World Cup final with South Africa;
• 2025: won the ICC World Test Championship with the South African national team; set a world record by becoming the fastest bowler in history to reach 300 Test wickets, breaking Waqar Younis’s record;
• 2026: won his second IPL Purple Cap for taking the most wickets in the season, 29 in total, this time with Gujarat Titans.

This is only a very short list of the titles, awards and achievements of this outstanding athlete. At the moment, after a brilliant season in the Indian Premier League with Gujarat Titans, Kagiso Rabada is set to spend the entire summer and autumn recovering from a recent injury and gearing up for a crucial home season with the national team. The Proteas are facing tough and highly important Test series against Australia and England, as well as broader preparations for the upcoming 2027 ODI Cricket World Cup.

Kagiso Rabada: Personal Life

The most talked-about topic in the athlete’s personal life is his relationship with popular South African rap artist and BET Award winner Sho Madjozi, whose real name is Maya Wegerif. For a long time, the pair insisted that they were “just close friends”, but their regular public appearances together. For example, at NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago and the singer’s warm support at South Africa matches strengthened their status as a couple in the eyes of the media. Journalists and fans often call them one of the brightest and most influential couples in South African show business.

To wrap up the article, here is a small selection of interesting facts about the athlete, along with his playing statistics:

• In the sporting world and among friends, he is often called KG, after the initials of his name;
• Cricket is not Kagiso’s only passion: he is seriously into music and often tries his hand as a DJ and producer;
• Thanks to his tall frame, 185 cm, and athletic build, Kagiso is often invited to take part in fashion shoots;
• In 2025, the athlete failed a doping test, testing positive for a recreational drug, and received a one-month suspension.

Kagiso Rabada is fairly active on social media, using his accounts not only for sports updates but also to show off his multi-layered life away from cricket. Millions of followers around the world keep up with his social media profiles: Instagram – @rabada_25, X, formerly Twitter – @KagisoRabada25 and Facebook – @KagisoRabadaOfficial.