Exclusive: Australia Should Think Twice Before Provoking Kagiso Rabada, says Malibongwe Maketa

Former Proteas Assistant coach Malibongwe Maketa explained that facing Australia comes with a unique pressure, an intimidating pressure. 

Having worked with Kagiso Rabada, Maketa reckons that it would be in Australia's best interests not to use the recent drug scandal in an attempt to rattle him. 

Facing Australia

The Australian Test team is the one team that every other Test team dreams of beating. 

Beating, whether in one Test match of a Test series, speaks volumes about where you are as a Test team. 

However, beating them is easier said than done, whether they are at home or away from home, their reputation precedes them, having dominated world cricket for decades. 

This is the kind of pressure that the Proteas Test team is up against going into the upcoming World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's next month. 

Former Proteas assistant coach, Malibongwe Maketa, knows a thing or two about beating Australia, having been assisting the former Proteas head coach Ottis Gibson in 2018 during the infamous Sandpaper Gate Test series.

Maketa and Gibson led a team that brought up the darkest time in recent Australian cricket history, as the Aussies had to resort to cheating to gain an advantage in the third Test in Cape Town, as the Proteas were on their way to winning that Test. 

In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.co.za, Maketa admitted that playing Australia is intimidating. 

"With their history, it brings in a different pressure in terms of facing Australia and their record precedes them, so you know for a fact that it's going to be relentless pressure, not only from the bowling, but also from the body language, from the fielders, and when you're in Australia, the pressure comes even from the public," Maketa told SportsBoom.co.za.  

"It is intimidating. You feel a different energy when you're about to play them." 

KG thrives under pressure 

Maketa witnessed Kagiso Rabada's match-winning 11/150 at St George's Park Cricket Stadium against Australia in 2018, a performance which saw the 30-year-old get in trouble for making contact with or shoulder brushing Steve Smith during his celebration. 

A six-hour hearing followed suit as Cricket South Africa and Rabada believed that his celebrations had no malicious intent, and they won as the player returned for the following Test match in Cape Town. 

Maketa told SportsBoom.co.za that in all that controversy, he got to understand that Rabada almost fails to register pressure the way normal players do. 

Maketa emphasised that Rabada is drawn to pressure and that the Australians know too well not to use the recent drug scandal to get on his wrong side, as it will only work against them by making Rabada sharper in his performances. 

"Working with him, it doesn't seem like pressure registers in his mind. He's one of those players who goes, 'oh wow, is this supposed to be pressure', kind of approach," said Maketa. 

"I don't think he identifies with the word pressure in the sense that he actually goes towards the fact that it's tough, he thrives under pressure. I think the Australians have learned now. I don't think the current crop of players would say too much to KG because they know what they would bring out in him."  

"The public, yes, might say something here and there but I think with what has transpired in the past, they would definitely stay far away from KG in terms of getting him to a point where he has to say stuff like, 'you guys, I'll show you who I am'. I think that would be their approach."

The Proteas squad will assemble in Arundel on Saturday, 31 May, where preparations for the Four-Day warm-up match against Zimbabwe will begin.