Ken Borland

Kagiso Rabada has his superman cape back at the IPL and Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe says it’s all thanks to the rejuvenating effects of Lockdown.

After three matches, Rabada, playing for Ricky Ponting’s Delhi Capitals, is the joint leading wicket-taker with seven dismissals along with India star Mohammed Shami. But Rabada also has the best average of all bowlers who have taken at least five wickets and, at 6.25, he has the best economy rate of all pace bowlers in the IPL.

It’s a far cry from the Rabada who struggled to get going for the Proteas in 2019 and who limped out of action in February 2020, missing the epic ODI series against Australia. A month later and all cricket was stopped by the Covid-19 pandemic, but Nkwe said on Thursday that the enforced break has done a world of good for South Africa’s spearhead.

“KG had a heavy schedule and he needed a break from both the physical and mental point of view. By the end of last season he was carrying some niggles, which is a sign of fatigue. You need a break when you’re competing at such a high intensity for so long, you just need some time to focus on yourself and not be constantly on the road, constantly on the move.

“I’ve been watching mostly the games with South Africans involved and it’s been very pleasing to see a lot of guys put in great performances, taking responsibility and responding really well in different situations. It’s been fantastic how guys like Faf du Plessis, KG, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje have stepped up to the plate and I have no doubt Quinton de Kock is due a massive performance soon too,” Nkwe said on Thursday.

The one player Nkwe did not mention though was AB de Villiers, who has really been going to town with the bat, scoring 134 runs in three innings at a strike-rate of 186.11.

Virat Kohli, the captain of De Villiers’ Bangalore Royal Challengers side, heaped praise on his matchwinner

“He’s relaxed and has turned up every time he walks on to the field and that’s exactly what we need from him. He keeps things simple and doesn’t watch a lot of cricket. He enjoys his golf, enjoys his life and comes out here, backs his ability and there are very few like him. Just to have his energy on the field and getting stuck into the bowlers was a joy to watch. Only he can do that best,” Kohli said this week.

Sounds like the sort of player the Proteas would love to have available for next year’s ICC T20 World Cup. Nkwe admitted on Thursday that the timing of the IPL has been very useful from a Proteas point of view.

“The IPL has been a massive boost because increasing the workloads of the players after Lockdown is very important. We are fortunate to have quite a few Proteas involved and hopefully they all come back very fit. Locally the guys are looking forward to getting back on the field and domestic and international cricket will start up very soon. Soon they’ll be playing warm-up matches.

“So the Proteas will have guys in different phases of readiness, some of them will have just started playing again. So there are going to have to be different management processes for different guys, it’s important to manage the individual. I think the guys are more hungry now and a lot of them are in really good shape, which is good because the next couple of years are going to be quite heavy,” Nkwe said.

Du Plessis has been the other South African batsmen to excel at the IPL, scoring 173 runs in three innings for the Chennai Super Kings, at a strike-rate of 149.13. Ngidi has taken four wickets in two matches for the same team, while Nortje has played all three games for the Delhi Capitals and impressed with an economy rate of 7.83 in the United Arab Emirates.