On Saturday (17th October) evening, the 25-year-old Delhi Capitals right-arm fast bowler Kagiso Rabada completed his 50 wickets in Indian Premier League (IPL) career and became the fastest bowler (in terms of the number of matches) to complete 50 wickets in the IPL history.
It was the 34th match of the IPL 2020, where Delhi Capitals (DC) were playing against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium (Sharjah). CSK captain MS Dhoni decided to bat first after winning the toss in that game.
Before this match, Kagiso Rabada got 49 wickets in 26 IPL matches as he was only one wicket away to complete his 50 IPL wickets. He completed 50 IPL wickets after picking up his first wicket in the 34th game of the IPL 2020 as he reached this feat in 27 IPL matches.
In the 15th over of the first innings of the match, which was Rabada’s third over of the match, the Proteas pacer dismissed the set batsman Faf du Plessis for 58 runs (47 balls) and completed his 50 IPL wickets.
Fastest to complete 50 IPL wickets: Kagiso Rabada broke Sunil Narine’s record
The Caribbean off-spinner Sunil Narine, who has served only for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL career, was previously holding the record of fastest to complete 50 IPL wickets. Narine completed his 50 IPL wickets in 32 IPL matches.
But now, Rabada broke that record and became the new fastest bowler to complete 50 IPL wickets after reaching this feat in 27 matches.
Kagiso Rabada made his IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils (presently known as Delhi Capitals) on 22nd April 2017 when they faced Mumbai Indians at Mumbai. Since then, he is serving for the same IPL side.
Recently, Rabada created history in the IPL after surpassing the previous record of taking at least one wicket in most consecutive innings in the IPL history. While R Vinay Kumar previously recorded it for 19 consecutive times in the IPL (2012-2013), Rabada put him back by counting it for 20 consecutive times in the IPL (2017-2020).
While Rabada just completed his 50 IPL wickets, it was his 23rd consecutive IPL match where he picked up at least one wicket.