South African bowling coach Charl Langeveldt challenged Proteas spearhead Kagiso Rabada to play better on flat pitches.
Rabada, the world leader in Test wicket-taking in 2022, was well below his best on the MCG as Australia went on 8-585 to secure a 386-run first innings lead.
The 27-year-old finished with figures of 2-144 as the South Africans were forced to play 145 overs.
“I think ‘KG’ (Rabada) wasn’t in the song, but I can point it out, and some of the other guys in periods where we didn’t play well as a unit,” Langeveldt said.
Langeveldt urged Rabada to study Australia captain Pat Cummins as an example of a bowler with consistency.
Rabada has taken more wickets than the Australian captain in this series with 10 to Cummins’ eight so far, but the Proteas pacer has been less economical, even at 5.14 over in the home team’s first dig in Melbourne.
“For KG, he’s a wicket-taker, he always has the ability to take wickets for us, the challenge for him is to be able to control that,” Langeveldt said.
“I think Cummins, when he started out, leaked a few runs, but then he became consistent and aggressive and that’s his [Rabada’s] challenge to move on.
“He is one of the leading wicket-takers in red-ball cricket, but in future, playing on flatter wickets, I think that will be the challenge for him.”
South Africa will resume on Thursday at 1-15, still requiring another 371 for Australia to bat again in the Boxing Day Test.
AAP/ABC
