The Proteas will be keen to impose themselves on Bangladesh from the first day of the first Test at the Wanderers.
Proteas pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada says they want to get up in the faces of Bangladesh when they start their two-Test series at the Wanderers on Sunday morning. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The Proteas will be looking to get right up into the faces of Bangladesh, according to speedster Kagiso Rabada, when their two-Test series gets under way with the first Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday (10am start).
Since the first Test between the teams in 2002, the Proteas have dominated Bangladesh, with them playing 16 times and the South Africans winning 14, while the two drawn games were practically washed out during monsoon season in Bangladesh back in 2015.
Of those 14 wins the Proteas have won nine by an innings, and their closest result was a five wicket win in Bangladesh back in 2008.
Proteas wins
The last time they met in South Africa, back in 2022, the hosts won by 220 runs in Durban and 332 runs in Gqeberha, while the last series between them was in Bangladesh in 2024, with the Proteas claiming a seven wicket win in the first Test, and a huge innings and 273 run win in the second.
The Proteas will thus be heavy favourites heading into this series, but Rabada was quick to say that the players wouldn’t be getting ahead of themselves, because they have previously been complacent and learnt from it.
“I think it’s human nature (to feel confident), we’ve found ourselves on that side before where we probably got a bit too complacent. It’s something that we have to guard against, to really give it our best shot and not drop the intensity, to keep our standards right up there,” explained Rabada.
“We’re not really thinking about the result, we’re just going to think about how we want to play, because that’s what we’ve been doing these past two years, having that desperation to win. And yeah, getting into the faces of our opponents, that’s exactly how we want to play. We’ll be looking to do more of the same.”
Soouth African support
After a superb series against Australia, where the Proteas fought back from losing the first Test in Durban, to clinch two big wins in Gqeberha and Cape Town to win 2-1, Rabada was very pleased with the reaction of fans around the country, and hoped that they would see similar support over the Bangladesh series.
“I was really surprised at people’s reactions to the series. We were so focused on what we had to do. But every now and then, you’d scroll on Instagram, and people have all these different opinions,” said Rabada.
“About the standard of cricket and the level of cricket that is being played, and how each Test match went into day five with the possibility of two or more results. That’s a really good advertisement for the game, and it shows that people are watching.
“Cape Town showed how beautiful it could be when we get everything right. But I’m really chuffed at the engagement from the fans.
“I have a bit more capacity to think about people watching cricket, and really being excited over a five-day period to see what’s going to happen. That last series took me by surprise in that people were finding it really interesting.”
