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Durban - He is one of the most exciting young prospects in South African cricket right now, but 20-year-old Kagiso Rabada appears to have his feet firmly on the ground.
The Lions quick made his ODI debut for the Proteas in Bangladesh last month where he announced his presence with a riveting 6/16 in Dhaka, and he is hard at work again preparing for this month's limited over series (2 T20Is, 3 ODIs) against New Zealand.
Speaking from Kingsmead yesterday, the venue for Friday's opening T20I, Rabada said he had no problem coming back down to earth after his ODI debut stole headlines across the country.
"It was one performance, so I'm not a hero or anything," he said bluntly.
"It's important to keep working. Obviously there are bigger goals, but you don't want to just go for records, you want to play a long time. I guess that's what motivates me."
The expectations are high for this young man, and how much longer the selectors will wait before introducing him into the Test side remains to be seen. But playing the longer format is something that Rabada considers to be the pinnacle of cricket.
"The dream is to play for your country, but I think ultimate format is Test cricket," he said.
"The T20 and the ODIs are still very competitive and enjoyable, but I think Test cricket is where your true game is tested."
