Dubai: South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada admitted that his team sees their batting as a concern but added that the last thing which was needed was just bickering about it. The Proteas are looking to bounce back from their five-wicket loss in a thrilling match to Australia when they face defending champions West Indies at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
“Coming to this press conference, I kind of knew that people were going to ask or that you guys were going to ask a lot about the batting. We also see it as a concern. The last thing we need to do is keep bickering on and on about it. That’s just how cricket goe”,” said Rabada in the pre-match press conference on Monday.
“The batters know what they have to do. We know what we have to do as a team. No one is blaming anyone. But the world thing you can do is just harp on and on and on about it. It is definitely an area that was of concern, and it’s being addres”ed,” added Rabada, whose unbeaten 19 was the second-highest score in South Africa making 118/9 against Australia.
Talking about him chipping in with the bat, especially in the back end of the innings, Rabada said, “I look to score as many runs as I can because wherever you can play a hand to contributing to a winning team performance, I think that’s what is on my mind, and I know that there’s always a chance that I can come in and bat. It’s an area that I’ve been worki”g on.”
Rabada insisted that West Indies will come back stronger after folding up for just 55 in their opening match against England on Saturday. “West Indies are going to be looking to come back really strong. We can’t underestimate them. You can never estimate the West Indies. In fact, you can’t underestimate any team, especially in a World Cup. That game is behind. The game that they played against England, that’s”behind.”
Speaking about wicketkeeper-opener Quinton de Kock not firing much for the Proteas in the recent matches, Rabada was hopeful of him coming back into the runs. “Quinton is a top-quality player, and I guess he just didn’t come off. Now we just need to look at it and come into the next game. Quinton is a massive player for us. He’s done extremely well for South Africa ever since he started playing. He’s a world-class player, and he needs just to go in and do “is thing.”
IANS