Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan has showered praise on Kagiso Rabada after Gujarat Titans claimed a comprehensive 82-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, in the ongoing IPL 2026 on Tuesday.
Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with impressive figures of 3-28 in his quota of four overs. The Proteas pacer accounted for Abhishek Sharma, Smaran Ravichandran and Ishan Kishan in his fine spell and thus was awarded Player of the Match.
Khan highlighted that Rabada is putting in the hard yards in the practice sessions and the results are palpable as GT has won their last five matches on the bounce, with the South African pacer contributing 11 wickets in these games.
Rabada has scalped 21 wickets in 12 matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 20.04 and an economy rate of 9.15 and he is currently the joint highest wicket-taker with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“If you see his approach, his intent, and his aggression, it is all Test cricket oriented. He tries to hit the length hard, tries to swing the ball, does not hesitate to hit a bouncer. He does not go towards the slower one or a defensive option if he is hit, and you are seeing the results. He was saying also that some fatigue is setting in, so he is getting fatigued because he is putting in so much effort. You are seeing such high intensity in every match,” Zaheer Khan said on Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, former GT fast bowler Mohit Sharma praised Rabada for consistently bowling fast throughout the ongoing season.
“I will say only one thing about KG, if there is something to be seen in him, then it is his intent. His intent after entering the ground, the way he celebrates after a wicket, we used to see all of these less earlier. It feels good to see it now that a player is running in with full force. I have not even seen a warm-up delivery in a single match, where he bowled like a 133 kmph delivery. Earlier, it was like that, his warm-up delivery was around 136-137 kmph, and he hit speeds of 144 kmph. Now, even his warm-up delivery hits 150 kmph,” Mohit Sharma noted.
With this win, GT vaulted to the top of the IPL standings.
