Mohammed Siraj an enigma as a bowler, excited to partner with him: Kagiso Rabada

Mumbai: One of the most exciting things about this IPL will be watching South Africa's pace ace Kagiso Rabada teaming up with 'DSP' Mohammed Siraj for the Gujarat Titans.
Bought at a whopping Rs 10.75 crores, Rabada brings in a wealth of experience and raw pace to the GT bowling line-up, which now bears a more menacing look with superstar leggie Rashid Khan and India pacers Ishant Sharma and Prasidh Krishna also there.
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In an exclusive interview with TOI, ‘KG’ came across as somebody who is not daunted by challenges - “Make it hard for bowlers” he says about the Impact Player rule!

Fired up to perform well for his new IPL side and bowling on the pace-friendly Ahmedabad pitch, the 29-year-old is also upbeat about South Africa’s chances against Australia in the final of the World Test Champions in June.
Excerpts:
How excited are you to play for the Gujarat Titans after having played for two teams previously?
I’m very excited to be playing in Ahmedabad and to be with Rashid Khan because I've been playing with him quite a bit over the last two, three years. So, it's nice to be with him again and then nice to be in a really well balanced team. Playing with some great batters and bowlers at the biggest stadium in India and then a pretty nice pitch to bowl on as a seamer! Getting to see Ishant again and then finally getting to meet players like Jos Buttler, Shubman Gill, (Rahul) Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Sherfane (Rutherford), I've known as well. So, at least I don't have to bowl at these guys anymore!
You have played in Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings in the past. How do you see Gujarat Titans as a franchise and what are your first impressions?
My first impressions are that it's a calm, well-organised (team). And with Ashish (Nehra, GT head coach) there, you know,…(he’s) never shy of a joke! I've heard a lot of good things about this franchise, having spoken to David Miller, who is my teammate, obviously. It just seems like everything just works well.

With Shubman Gill leading the team, how do you see the team strategy shaping up for the season?
The team strategy, I don't know if I should be exposing it, but it's pretty simple. We've already talked about it. I guess the main thing is freedom. There's a lot of freedom in this setup. It's awesome and I've enjoyed it.
You must be looking forward to bowling in partnership with ‘DSP’ Mohammed Siraj?
Yes, Siraj is an enigma, he's got an enigma as a bowler and I'm excited to be partnering up with him. It's going to be great.
You'll be leading the pace attack alongside Siraj, (Prasidh) Krishna and Ishant (Sharma). How do you see this partnership working?
I guess we'll just sort of work it out and the more we play together, the more we'll get to know each other. The more we'll get to bounce ideas off each other, understand each other's strengths, weaknesses, etc. And we'll be able to communicate better. So far, so good. I've played with Ishant as well. So Ishant and I know each other pretty well. It's nice to play with him again.

The Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad has a high-scoring pitch. Have you thought about how you will adapt to bowling to these conditions?
I have a general idea of what the pitch is going to be like. It's with the red soil, so obviously there's more extra bounce. The (pitch with the) black soil is a bit more slower. However, there's still bounce in it. That's what you want as a fast bowler and a bit of swing. It can tend to swing. You saw how well fast bowlers have done here in the past, particularly Mohammed Shami.
Are you happy with some of the bowler friendly moves that the IPL has introduced this time? The saliva ban has been revoked and there will be a new ball from the 11th over onwards.
Let's see if it'll impact (things). I mean, sometimes a harder ball is probably not the best tactic, but I think it just adds a spanner to the works. Let's see how it goes.
As a bowler, how difficult is it to deal with the impact player rule? Considering that you suddenly have a specialist batsman or big hitter walking in at say number seven, number eight. Do you think it's a fair rule?
It obviously makes things harder, but it's fine. Make it harder!

‘KG,’ are you excited about the World Test Championship final in June? Do you think South Africa can actually go on and beat the mighty Australia, the defending champions?
Yes, 100%. Of course, we can, and I'm itching for that one. But for now, we look to win the IPL first.
Kagiso, you've got a hat-trick in all three formats of the game. What makes you so successful across formats? You know, how do you maintain your fitness to play around there across formats and leagues around the world?
Just foresight, planning and a lot of hard work that people don't see!
With the T20 World Cup 2026 in India & Sri Lanka coming up next year, how important is IPL-2025 for your preparation and rhythm?
It's still quite some distance out, though. I wouldn't be thinking about that. Well, but I guess you would be thinking about that. Leading forward from here, you want to judge yourself on where you're at after this tournament. You'll sort of see where you're at and see where you'd like to actually improve and progress leading into the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Does the Rs 10.75 crore that GT's paid for you put additional pressure on you to perform well for them this season?
No, it doesn't. I don't think it should…that doesn't add any pressure, it just means that I've been backed. I am glad that the franchise has shown faith in me and I'm going to do my best for this team. That's all… I'm going to give my 100%. The team comes first.
How do you compare the IPL to the other leagues that you play in?
It's definitely the biggest league. The BCCI has done a tremendous amount of work to organize this league and make it big, and there's still a lot of progressions to come, whether it be looking after the players more, or enhancing the grounds. There's still loads of improvement that I'm sure the guys are thinking about putting into action and I must commend how it's been run and set up.
Have you tried any local food and cuisine so far in Gujarat?
Well, just pretty much standard food - mutton Rogan Josh, butter chicken, a bit of paneer dishes and nothing new!