Firing up, burning out: Cummins and Rabada unite

Kagiso Rabada insists his inner fire has not been quelled despite conceding he has settled down since Australia last saw him in Test cricket, but expressed a fear the international schedule is at risk of wearing down all fast bowlers.

It's a sentiment echoed by Pat Cummins, who sat down with Rabada for a fascinating discussion for cricket.com.au about the art of fast bowling, previous encounters in Australia-South Africa games, their thoughts on each other's teammates and captaincy.

At No.1 and No.6 respectively on the ICC's Test bowling rankings, Cummins and Rabada are the leading bowlers for their sides heading into the three-Test NRMA Insurance Test series.

The pair's wide-ranging discussion is an illuminating insight into the minds of two men regarded as two of their generation's best cricketers, who are also friends from their time in the Indian Premier League together at Delhi Capitals.

One of the most revealing segments of their 19-minute discussion was Rabada's take on how he channels his own competitiveness, having earnt the ire of the ICC's code of conduct on numerous occasions in his 55-Test career.

His run-in with Steve Smith during the fiery and controversial 2018 Test series was one of the more polarising incidents in recent memory.

"There's too many rules these days," Rabada joked to laughter from Cummins.

"What happens on the field happens on the field. Off the field, it's a different story.

"Sometimes you do get fired up. It has nothing to do with how you are as a person off the field – but when you get competitive, it's just like a whole different energy.

"Emotion can just come out of nowhere and literally just spur you on.

"But having grown older, you just have more maturity, and you just carry yourself in a different manner, and you just channel that energy in a different manner.

"Whereas when I first started, I was just extremely raw. So I'd say that I have settled down, quite evidently, but the passion is most definitely still there."

Both bowlers are first-choice players for their countries across the three international formats, while they also both regularly command $1 million-plus salaries in the IPL.

They have both been open about the challenges of the schedule; Rabada admitted he struggled for energy during the recent T20 World Cup in Australia, while Cummins has stressed he will need to sit out white-ball series over the coming years and has already pulled out of next year's IPL. 

"You play so often now that you try and allocate your energy for bowling," said Cummins. "You can get wound up really high, but it's pretty draining to be doing that every day.

"… Sometimes you do need the emotion to get yourself up as much as getting into the opposition."

Australia are in the middle of a busy stretch of Test cricket that sees them play 14 Tests in less than nine months, which could increase to 15 if they make the final of the World Test Championship next year.

That runs parallel to a run of 50-over games before the 2023 World Cup in India, which Cummins will have the extra responsibility of captaining Australia at having recently added the ODI job to his ongoing leadership of the Test side.

South Africa have a more white-ball heavy calendar over the coming months, as they host England, West Indies and the Netherlands at home following the series in Australia, who they will then also welcome to their home patch next year for one-dayers and T20s.

Their only scheduled long-form games before the World Cup is a two-Test campaign at home against West Indies, which mark their final matches under the current WTC program.

"The volume of cricket that you play these days, I won't even lie – as much as we love the game and I always get back into like wanting to play and wanting to have the drive, sometimes it's hard to get the drive with the amount of cricket that we play," said Rabada.

"At the end of the day, we are human beings. Imagine being up for every single game that you play with the amount of fixtures that we have."

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v South Africa

Dec 17-21: First Test, Gabba, 11.20am AEDT

Dec 26-30: Second Test, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Jan 4-8: Third Test, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

South Africa squad: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Theunis de Bruyn, Sarel Eree, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo

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