Kagiso Rabada Profile: Age, Date of Birth and Career Info

Kagiso Rabada Profile & Personal Details

Kagiso Rabada is a South African international cricket player. The fast bowler has been one of the key pacers for the Proteas in the last couple of years. Rabada is currently 30 years old. He was born on 25^th May 1995 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, in South Africa.

Nicknamed “KG”, Rabada made his international debut for South Africa back in 2014 and then a year later in 2015, he made his Test debut for his country.

Kagiso Rabada Family & Early Life

Parents, Siblings & Upbringing

Kagiso Rabada was born in Johannesburg to Mpho Rabada and Florence Rabada. Kagiso’s father, Mpho, is a brain surgeon, while his mother is a lawyer. From a very young age, Kagiso spent a considerable amount of his childhood with his grandparents. Once his parents were able to set foot in their respective jobs, the family went on to live in proper suburbs in Johannesburg. Meanwhile, his religious beliefs are not publicly known.

Early Cricket Roots

As for siblings, the star pacer has a sister. However, her name is not publicly known to fans. As for his background, Kagiso’s ancestry is Venda and Tswana. As his parents had a stable job, he was instilled with the determination and dedication to follow his passion in whatever he wanted to pursue from a very young age. From his childhood, he was drawn to sports and played cricket and rugby in attended St. Stithians Boys' College, which he attended. His steady growth in cricket was observed by his coaches, which ultimately fast-tracked his spot in the South Africa U19 team back in 2014.

Kagiso Rabada Education Qualification

Kagiso Rabada’s parents’ profession enabled them to enrol him on a very prestigious private school in South Africa. He went on to attend the St. Stithians College. He passed his matriculation from the St. Stithians College in 2013. Being very good at sports earned the ace pacer a sports scholarship at the institution. A year after his matriculation, i.e. in 2014, he was selected for the Proteas U19 squad for the World Cup.

Kagiso Rabada Relationships, Marriage & More

Kagiso Rabada is not currently engaged to anyone. However, as per reports, he is in a relationship with Sho Madjozi. Sho is a South African singer, rapper and songwriter. The couple has been spotted together numerous times, indicating that their relationship is known to the public.

The couple prefer to keep their matters private and thus as a result not much is known in detail about them.

Kagiso Rabada Off-Field Interests & Lifestyle

Being a fast bowler brings its side effects as well. Over his career, Rabada has often been plagued by injuries. Thus, as a result, Rabada pays careful attention to his fitness. He relies extensively on his explosive power and Snatch technique to boost his bowling ability. Apart from his training, Rabada also pays huge attention to his recovery.

He emphasises his post-match meals to boost his recovery and strengthen. Despite being an international star, Rabada often indulges in cheat meals and can be seen eating chips and burgers to boost his strength after games.

Rabada was born in May, and as per the Western Zodiac, he is a Gemini. Not much is known about his personal rituals or superstitions.

Kagiso Rabada Cricket Career Overview

Domestic & Franchise Journey

Kagiso Rabada’s domestic career began in 2013 for Gauteng, where he took part in the CSA Provincial One-Day Competition. His brilliant rise through the ranks saw him playing for the Lions and then for the Kent County Cricket Club. In 2014, he was selected for the South Africa U19 World Cup team. He went on to bag 14 wickets, the second most wickets in the tournament, which started making a name for him slowly on the international stage. He joined Kent in 2016, where he made the bold decision to ditch the Indian Premier League (IPL) to gain more experience from playing County Cricket.

In 2017, he was signed by IPL side Delhi Daredevils for a price of 50 million rupees. The next year, he was bought by the Delhi side yet again but failed to take part in the tournament as he was ruled out with a back injury. He was retained by Delhi in 2019 and was picked by Punjab Kings in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. In 2023, he went on to bag 100 IPL wickets on his 64^th IPL game, making him the fastest bowler to achieve the feat.

International Breakthrough & Leadership

Kagiso Rabada got the chance to represent the Proteas in 2014 when he made his debut for the country. He got his cap in T20I on 5 November 2014 as the Proteas took on Australia. The next year, on 10 July 2015, he made his ODI debut against Bangladesh. Rabada went on to breathe fire as he achieved his career best figures on his debut by scalping 6 wickets from just 16 runs. He also became the second bowler in history to bag a hat-trick on his ODI debut.

On 5 November 2015, he made his Test debut against India. In the game, he bagged a total of 13 wickets to help his side clinch a strong win. Rabada became the youngest South African bowler to bag 10 wickets in a Test match. Interestingly, his bowling record on his Test debut was second best only to Makhaya Ntini.

In 2018, he surpassed Harbhajan Singh to become the bowler to take 150 Test wickets. He also became the third fastest Protean bowler to achieve the record, having bagged 150 wickets from just 31 Test matches. On 6 November 2021, against England in the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup, he became the first South African bowler to claim a hat-trick in T20I cricket.

Here are some Career Milestones of Kagiso Rabada-

Rabada became the youngest Protean bowler to bag a fifer on his Test debut.

He also became the youngest bowler to take 150 Test wickets at the age of 23 years.

Rabada in 2018 had 52 dismissals to his name, making him the bowler with the most wickets in the calendar year in Test cricket.

Rabada is also the first South African player to have won 6 awards at the CSA's annual dinner in 2016. He was also named the Cricketer of the Year in the same year.

In IPL 2020, he bagged 30 wickets for Delhi Capitals and became the highest wicket-taker in the league and thus won the IPL Purple Cap award.

In the WTC Final 2023-25, he became the second bowler to bag a fifer in the WTC Finals. His five wickets for 51 runs were crucial for the Proteas to defeat the Australians and clinch the ICC Test mace.

Kagiso Rabada Injuries & Fitness Management

Over the years, Rabada has been plagued by quite a few injuries. Like all fast bowlers, Rabada too has struggled with lower back injuries. Rabada has also been plagued with groin injuries. His back injuries have often prevented him from taking part in numerous tournaments like the IPL.

The South African cricket board has taken quite a few pre-emptive measures in form of workload management to prolong his career. Rabada now takes his recovery and rehabilitation very seriously. The pacer also bears special attention to his diet and adequate rest.

Kagiso Rabada Net Worth, Salary & Assets

Reports estimate Rabada’s Net Worth is expected to be approximately $5 million. A significant portion of his net worth comes from IPL salary as well as the other franchise salaries in which he participates. He is also a centrally contracted player for the South African Cricket and earns around $65,000 to $160,000. He also has his earnings from other brand endorsement deals as well. Some of his brand endorsements include the likes of Nissan, Tag Heuer, Grey-Nicolls, and Adidas.

In terms of property, he owns a mansion in Johannesburg. As for his other ventures, he, along with Cameron Scott, founded a production named “Kingdom Kome Productions” which produced a short film titled ‘The Ring of Beasts’.

Kagiso Rabada Social Media & Public Image

Kagiso Rabada’s official Instagram handle is @rabada_25

The ace pacer has 547 thousand followers on Instagram. By winning the WTC Finals by beating Australia, South Africa broke their ICC Trophy jinx after 27 years. Kagiso Rabada posted a team photo, which went viral, gaining 374 thousand likes. His second post saw him lifting the ICC Test mace, which also went viral and garnered 276K likes on Instagram.