What happened to Rabada ?

[ravishingravi]

He looks like a shot duck. A shadow of himself. Seems to have lost his pace, intent and aggression. I must be honest. With all stuff that goes around in SA and around dressing room, I won't be surprised if players suddenly lose motivation playing for the country. 

 

Or is he just not fit enough ? 

[Vijy]

Just now, ravishingravi said:

He looks like a shot duck. A shadow of himself. Seems to have lost his pace, intent and aggression. I must be honest. With all stuff that goes around in SA and around dressing room, I won't be surprised if players suddenly lose motivation playing for the country. 

 

Or is he just not fit enough ? 

he has been slowing down continuously in tests over the past 1-2 yrs. he only cranks it up in T20s.

[vvvslaxman]

He has regressed for sure. Heck he bowls faster for Delhi daredevils than this.  I don't hear any injuries. But not at his best.

[Adamant]

Definitely he has regressed. 

He was bowling 135 to 140 today, in 2018 when we toured he used to bowl 145 + consistently. 

[AKane]

Starc was bowling 135-140 yesterday mostly. Cummins seemed slower too at 130-140. Steyn was not 145+ after first few years.

 

That is why bowlers like Saini, Prasidh etc are wasted when waiting 3 years for line and length. By the time 3 years are up - the slowdown has started.

 

Makes me feel better that other country bowlers are losing pace - not just Indians. Perverse pleasure I admit.

[Suhaan]

59 minutes ago, AKane said:

Starc was bowling 135-140 yesterday mostly. Cummins seemed slower too at 130-140. Steyn was not 145+ after first few years.

 

That is why bowlers like Saini, Prasidh etc are wasted when waiting 3 years for line and length. By the time 3 years are up - the slowdown has started.

 

Makes me feel better that other country bowlers are losing pace - not just Indians. Perverse pleasure I admit.

They all (mostly) want to save their bodies for lucrative t20 offers,SAfrican ones more so

Can't imagine them putting their bodies in line when a mega t20 tourney is months away

Australian bowlers playing a 5 match series ,they are managing/planning their workload and are also older than their counterparts

[ShoonyaSifar]

Had an off day.

 

Before the start of play, Star showed a stat of Bumrah and Rabada in their last 24 tests (from our last SA tour till date). Rabada has 108 wickets@24 vs Bumrah's 101 wickets@23. He's doing fine, not as beastly at home as he was when playing alongside Steyn and Philander.

[AKane]

41 minutes ago, ShoonyaSifar said:

not as beastly at home as he was when playing alongside Steyn

 

That is an important difference though - alongside Steyn versus now trying to be "the man" himself.

 

A lot of bowlers would like to bowl alongside Steyn.

[Sean Bradley]

Lacks match practice, looked Rusty, Saffers are playing test cricket after a gap. 

[First class]

2 hours ago, ravishingravi said:

He looks like a shot duck. A shadow of himself. Seems to have lost his pace, intent and aggression. I must be honest. With all stuff that goes around in SA and around dressing room, I won't be surprised if players suddenly lose motivation playing for the country. 

 

Or is he just not fit enough ? 

Cricket in South Africa is going down the hill, motivation level is down. This quota system is killing cricket there. Their coach is under investigation and so many other issues. 

[Vijy]

25 minutes ago, AKane said:

 

That is an important difference though - alongside Steyn versus now trying to be "the man" himself.

 

A lot of bowlers would like to bowl alongside Steyn.

Pretty much any bowler would want to bowl with Steyn IMO. one of the most complete pacers in the past couple of decades.

[cricketfan28]

ipl money.

[vvvslaxman]

There is another theory. Rabada bowled well when guys like Steyn was around. Now he is in a position to lead the attack. Basically doing the role of Steyn. I don't think he is quiet up to the mark.