Kagiso Rabada is widely regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in world cricket today. The South African has twice walked away from the annual Cricket South Africa Awards with six trophies, including Cricketer of the Year. In 2018, he was named the best young cricketer in the world by no lesser authority than Wisden. His ability to bowl at speeds of over 93 miles per hour has seen him top various ICC bowler rankings. Among his many other achievements are becoming the youngest-ever bowler to take 150 Test wickets and the first South African bowler to take a hat-trick in T20i cricket.
Rabada was born in Johannesburg in May 1995. He announced his arrival onto the world stage at the 2014 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, taking more wickets than anyone else and getting the best bowling score by taking 6/25 against Australia. This led to him securing a spot in the Gauteng Lions team and taking a South African franchise record of 14/105 in a February 2015 match against the Dolphins. The wider cricket world became very interested in securing his services and he spent time playing for Kent in England and the Delhi Capitals in India. In 2022, he was bought by the Punjab Kings at the IPL Mega Auction.
Rabada made his Test debut in November 2015, having posted incredible bowling figures in the ODI and T20 sides. He soon became the youngest South African to achieve a 10-wicket Test haul, taking 13/144 against England. After taking 4/39 in a one-day international against England in 2017, he officially became the top ODI bowler in the world.