South African pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada was in a formidable form in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Delhi Capitals before a back injury left him excluded from the squad. However, The 23-year-old has now fit and has returned in the national team during the warm-up game against Sri Lanka. He was pleased by his return but felt he was a bit ‘rusty’ as well.

“I felt a bit rusty, but it was good to get a run out in the middle and get a feel for things again,” Rabada said after the warm-up match. There’s no pain. I’m feeling alright, just rusty in terms of my bowling smoothness. But it’s all a work in progress. That’s why we have warm-up games so it’ll be a challenge for me to get ready before the tournament starts,” the pacer said.

“I’ve got my own cues I need to work on. I know that I just need to analyse a bit what happened against Sri Lanka and just work on a few things. I’m not really thinking about it too much. It’s just a case of running in and focussing on my cues,” he added.

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He is currently looking forward to their first game of the ICC World Cup, where they will take on the host England on May 30 at The Oval.

“It’s great to play for South Africa again. It’s an honour to represent your country on such a big stage as the World Cup. England is going to be a stiff challenge, but an enjoyable one. It’s crunch time — the first game of the World Cup and it’s going to go down in history. They’re a strong team, with good batsmen and bowlers. Multiple players from our team have played against England, we’re familiar with them and that helps. On the day, we have to rock up. With the quality they possess, we need to make sure we are on top,” he further added. ​