Rabada pushes back against India's World Cup inevitability

Many cricket press conferences pass without notice. Kagiso Rabada's on Friday was not one of them. In India, he dared to say the unsayable: that the men's T20 World Cup starting Saturday would not be dominated by any team.

This view challenges the prevailing narrative in India—that the co-hosts need only turn up to claim the trophy. India expects, because they're playing at home, because they're current champions, and simply because they're India.

Rabada wouldn't agree. "It's going to be an exciting tournament," he said. "Particularly because a lot of overseas players from the IPL are not as foreign to the conditions. I'm not too sure what's going on in India's camp, whether they're feeling pressure or not. But all I can say is I don't know who the favourites are. You cannot say there's a favourite. I think it's up for grabs. Anyone can take it."

Asked if South Africa felt an urgency to win after their World Test Championship final triumph, Rabada replied: "Of course there's an urgency. We're at a World Cup."

On whether the public lacked desperation for South Africa to win, tied to the WTC success, he noted: "There hasn't been as much talk around this World Cup. It's more just been well wishes. There's been no reference to the chokers tag. From what I've heard, there's been more talk about selection."

Addressing the challenge for bowlers in T20 cricket, Rabada said: "I don't know. You go to your room and cry." He softened that: "It's just really a good challenge."

On pitches in India favoring batters, he elaborated: "It's India, with small grounds and where the ball skids on. When the dew comes it makes it even worse. The ball used to swing for maybe two overs, but the nature of the pitches here is that they're just true. Batters can swing through the line. Not to take away any skill from them, but I think it's becoming really brutal."

He added: "If you look at the way cricket is moving, especially T20, everyone in the batting line-up can hit a six. There's so much data, so many stats, so many videos. Things are extremely specific. It evens the playing field. As bowlers, we can see what batters are generally trying to do. And batters can pick up on what bowlers are trying to do. If you do not evolve, the game moves ahead of you. Because the pitches are so flat, as soon as there's a bit in it for the bowlers, the batters almost seem like they can't cope with it."

Catch Rabada on a good day behind the microphones, and few are better. Catch him on a day like Friday, and he surpasses even himself.