South Africa’s pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada has praised Pakistan captain Babar Azam, calling him one of the toughest batters he has faced in international cricket.

 

Speaking on the Beard Before Cricket Podcast hosted by Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, Rabada described Babar as “a rock” at the crease, especially when playing in home conditions.

 

“Babar Azam is a rock, especially in Pakistan. It’s like, ‘Man, how do you get this guy out?’” Rabada said while reflecting on his toughest opponents.

 

The Proteas fast bowler also listed several batting greats he has struggled against over his career. He mentioned India’s Virat Kohli, England’s Joe Root, Australia’s Steve Smith and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson as among the most challenging.

 

Rabada, however, singled out Australia’s David Warner as the hardest of them all due to his aggressive and unorthodox style.

 

“I actually found David Warner quite tough to bowl to. I think he’s the hardest because he was so unorthodox. He used to cut a lot of balls, and whenever I dropped my length short, he would just latch onto it and cut,” Rabada said.

 

“He was the only guy who could do that against me. He was very hard. As much as I had a lot of success against him, I thought he was very tough to bowl to,” he added.

 

Rabada has represented South Africa in 71 Tests, 106 ODIs and 70 T20Is, taking more than 500 international wickets across formats.