DHAKA: South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada on Monday reached a key career milestone as he surpassed Pakistan’s Waqar Younis to become the fastest-ever pacer to reach 300 wickets in Tests on the first day of the opening Test against Bangladesh
The right-arm pacer achieved the feat in 11,817 balls in 65 tests to break Younis’s 24-year-old record of bagging 300 Test wickets in 12,602 balls.
Rabada, 29, finished with figures of 3-26 from 11 overs as Bangladesh were skittled out for 106 and South Africa replied with 140-6 before bad light halted play not long before the scheduled close.
Sixteen wickets fell on the opening day of the two-test series, where spin is expected to dominate.
“We thought it was going to turn, and not really nip, but with the new ball, there was a bit of movement,” said Rabada while speaking at a news conference.
“Not really much swing, but off the wicket, there was quite a bit of seam movement.
“To be fair, that’s actually how it played in the nets. Generally, what you get in the nets is what you’ll get similarly in the middle. It’s turning for the spinners and seaming for the seamers too. We found that quite surprising, said Rabada, adding that he had not been focusing on the 300-wicket milestone, but he knew he was on the cusp of achieving it.
“I was more focused on how we were 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 it was a relief.
“It’s a special moment. As for the record, I didn’t know about it, but I guess it motivates me to do even better,” he remarked.
Rabada became the sixth South African bowler to 300 test wickets after Dale Steyn (439), Shaun Pollock (421), Makhaya Ntini (390), Allan Donald (330) and Morne Morkel (309).
