Kwena Maphaka, aged 20, could be called upon to lead South Africa’s pace attack in the upcoming Test series against Australia if Kagiso Rabada is unable to play.Rabada injured his right hamstring during training recently and was ruled out of the ODI matches against Australia. His recovery timeline remains uncertain, with South Africa hoping he will return in time for the three-match Test series later this year.“I really hope that KG [Rabada] is back in time. But if that doesn’t happen, it’s one of those things where somebody has to step up, and if that’s me, I’m really confident in my abilities,” Maphaka told Cricinfo, as quoted by the ICC.Maphaka has prior leadership experience, having led bowling attacks for the Lions and the South Africa Under-19 team. He has also been part of the Proteas squad for some time. “I’ve led a bowling attack before with the Lions, with South Africa Under-19, and I’ve been in the Proteas for a little bit now. So yeah, I’m really confident in my abilities,” he added.The young pace bowler emerged prominently at the 2024 ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, where he was the leading wicket-taker and named Player of the Tournament. Since then, Maphaka has played two Tests, three ODIs and 19 T20 internationals for South Africa.Discussing his development, he said, “The biggest thing for me was really working on my consistency. I was decent in the T20 format, but there was a lot of work to do in the longer formats that would also help in T20s. We worked on a little bit of my run-up, but the biggest thing was just consistency and making sure that I can hit an area as consistently as possible. I feel that I’ve done that so far.”Looking ahead, Maphaka is aiming to secure a regular place in the South African pace attack for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup scheduled to be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year.“It’ll be a massive privilege and a massive honour (to be involved in that),” he said. “I’d definitely love to be in the squad, and hopefully I could be one of the leaders at the forefront of next year’s World Cup, especially being a home World Cup. I’ve had the opportunity to play in a home Under-19 World Cup, something that a lot of people haven’t been able to do. That experience and being able to play in front of home crowds would be really special to do a second time around,” he concluded
Kwena Maphaka to lead Proteas pace attack if Rabada misses Tests
