Event: Kagiso Rabada

Proteas bowler Kagiso Rabada. In the quiet corners of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where the dust of the Super Eights has finally settled, Kagiso Rabada sits with the air of a man who has looked into the abyss and seen a way back. South Africa are into the semifinals of the 2026 T20 World Cup, their record a pristine six-from-six. On paper, it looks like a march of dominance; on the field, it has been a tightrope walk over broken glass. For Rabada, the premier strike bowler of a generation, the journey to the final four has been defined by a single centimetre of white paint and a profound shift in his role in the pace pack. While the Proteas’ nine-wicket thumping of the West Indies on Thursday all but guaranteed their knockout spot, Rabada’s mind remained anchored to an earlier near-miss against Afghanistan. It was a game that nearly derailed a nation’s hopes, all because of an infamous overstep. Rabada had Noor Ahmed caught for what should have been the final wicket. Instead, the siren wailed, the bails were replaced and the match spiralled into two frantic Super Overs. Rabada, the leader of the attack, was forced to watch from the dugout as Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj performed the rescue act. “I’m glad we won that game,” Rabada said after the West Indies victory, finally breaking his media silence. “Otherwise, I would have blamed myself for sure. On the positive side, I made it interesting but if we had lost, I would have taken it quite heavily, to be honest.” His lesson was as blunt as a yorker: “Get behind the line. Simple as that.” The tactical shift: Markram’s masterclass The report from the West Indies clash reads like a statement of intent. Chasing 177 on…