When Kagiso Rababa shattered Mushfiqur Rahim’s stumps in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to become the quickest bowler to take 300 wickets in Test cricket history, thousands of kilometres back home, in the isiXhosa commentary box at SuperSport studios, Makhaya Ntini smiled and applauded.
This was not only because the Proteas paceman took just 11,817 deliveries to reach the milestone — beating the mark set by Pakistan legend Waqar Younis — but Ntini knew what it meant to reach the landmark as a black SA cricketer.
Dale Steyn, Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald and Morné Morkel round off the list of the only other SA bowlers to take 300 Test wickets.
But only Ntini and Rabada, whom the Proteas legend describes as a “son”, have walked the path to the 300 mark in Tests among a handful of black SA bowlers, including Mfuneko Ngam, Monde Zondeki and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
“I was happy because now I know I have a son that has arrived in the mark with the same colour of skin,” Ntini said.
Eccentric, manic and incredibly persistent are just a few of the descriptors that could be applied to Ntini. He made history for black Africans and motivated a group of players that had long fought to compete with whites since readmission in 1992.
His story was like a fairy-tale in every aspect, from starting out as a cowherd in Mdingi village, Qonce, and bowling barefoot, to his rapid ascent to the SA pace attack alongside Donald and Pollock at just 21.
He embraced his rollercoaster of a career with enthusiasm, a carefree attitude and a memorable smile, eventually becoming one of SA’s top fast bowlers.
Now, Ntini says he has handed over the responsibility to Rabada to keep inspiring future generations.
“From the first time I saw him from the SA Under-19, I was impressed by him. Guys like Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel did a brilliant job in moulding him as a good fast bowler to spearhead the Proteas team.
“Now every black player that starts playing cricket will want to be like Rabada — the same as him [Rabada], when he was growing up, took inspiration from us,” Ntini said.
Only Morkel (309), Donald (330), Ntini (390), Pollock (421) and Steyn (439) stand in the way of Rabada becoming SA’s leading wicket taker.
“Me, Dale Steyn and Rabada reached 300 wickets at the age of 29 — there is no doubt if he keeps going in Test cricket, he can come closer to our records. But my hope is for him to break them — it will be hard with SA playing so little Test cricket, but we will see,” Ntini said.
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