Seven-year-old Kagiso Rabada didn’t even watch the 2003 World Cup

Rabada was only seven years old when Australia beat India in the final to lift the trophy at the Wanderers, unbeknownst to him that he’ll one day carry the nation’s hopes in the same competition. 

He says he even played sports like football and rugby only when he was nine years old, and focused on cricket later when he was inspired by some legends.

"I had no interest in cricket at that time, but as I got older I started to watch the likes of Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Shoaib Akhtar in the World Cup."

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Rabada says while he was convinced that he was a decent player in some major sporting codes, it was in his teenage years that he realised that cricket was his favourite. 

The 31-year-old is now a legend in world cricket, having taken 340 Test wickets for South Africa, behind only Dale Steyn, Shaun Pollock, and Makhaya Ntini. He also boasts 168 ODI wickets and 83 in T20 Internationals.

Rabada expressed excitement that the World Cup is finally coming to the country in his own professional era, and declared that nothing compares to playing in his country.

"I'm truly excited for it and for the competition to come to South Africa is special because we will be playing in our home stadiums in front of our home fans. The world is coming to us and that is going to be beautiful."

He added that while T20 cricket has gained more popularity around the world, the 50-over World Cup remains the Holy Grail of international white ball cricket.