The Indian Premier League has historically been seen as a platform for many seasoned campaigners to announce their resurgence at the top level. South African pacer Kagiso Rabada looks to be one of them, having announced his comeback with red-hot form in the IPL 2026 season ahead of a long international calendar and the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. His resurgence follows a challenging T20 World Cup 2026 campaign for his national side, where he took just 4 wickets in 6 matches at a modest average of roughly 8.
Rabada, who made his IPL debut in 2017, was acquired by the Gujarat Titans for INR 10.75 crore ahead of the 2025 season, but managed just 2 wickets in 4 appearances in his debut season for GT, missing a month of action after testing positive for a prohibited recreational drug in April 2025. However, he has now repaid the faith shown by GT’s management in his potential, with double-digit wickets after just 10 matches played so far. He is currently contending for the Purple Cap this season, ranking 3rd in the standings with 16 wickets to his name, including best figures of 3 for 25 against Chennai Super Kings.
However, his latest performance on May 3rd against the table-toppers, the Punjab Kings, caught the spotlight and earned praise from many fans and pundits for his match-winning spell of 2 for 22, which helped restrict the explosive PBKS batting lineup to just 163.
Indian legendary spinner and expert commentator Ravichandran Ashwin was full of praise for the 30-year-old South African bowler, especially for the way he tackled PBKS opener Prabhsimran Singh, who has already scored 361 runs this season, but found himself on the back foot against Rabada before eventually giving in with a mistimed shot that was comfortably caught by GT’s Manav Suthar.
“It feels like he has been spiritually possessed. He is not just bowling fast; he is letting thunderbolts go. Prabhsimran Singh literally went to the side facing him, his back leg frozen. Rabada set the tempo for GT. The way he bowled to Prabhsimran almost makes the batter want to go away,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Outstanding Rabada
Ashwin’s remarks carry weight, as Rabada perfectly used the pitch with consistent line and lengths, boasting an impressive economy of 5.50 against the dominant Shreyas Iyer-led side at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Along with the wicket of Prabhsimran, Rabada grabbed a match-changing wicket of Suryansh Shedge, whose exceptional 57 helped PBKS reach a modest total of 163 on the night.
GT, who now sit 5th on the table after their second-last ball win against PBKS, will look to capitalise on the exceptional form of their lethal pacer Rabada in their bid to secure a Top 4 spot as they next face a high-flying Rajasthan Royals.