Kagiso Rabada & Dale Steyn (Source: AFP Photos)
On Wednesday, Kagiso Rabada became only the fourth bowler from South Africa to bag 200 or more Test wickets on home soil. In the process, he left behind Dale Steyn, one of South Africa’s greatest fast bowlers of all time.
Rabada crossed the 200-Test wicket mark in his 37th Test match. Steyn, who had 261 Test wickets at home – the most by any South African bowler to date – took 38 matches to breach the mark.
Before Rabada, Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock breached the 200 Test-wicket mark in South Africa, alongside Steyn. Ntini took 249 wickets, and Pollock took 235 wickets at home in whites.
Kagiso Rabada's Test Average Comes Under 20
Kagiso Rabada has now got a average of 19.99 at home, which is extremely impressive in terms of having experience playing there in 38 matches. At present, he has 202 wickets in 38 Tests, or 73 innings.
| Criterion | Data |
| Innings | 73 |
| Wickets | 202 |
| Average | 19.99 |
| Strike Rate | 35 |
[Kagiso Rabada's Test numbers in South Africa, as of October 21, 2026]
Overall, Rabada now has 344 Test wickets at an average of 21.96. His strike rate of 39.4 indicates that he has a knack for picking up wickets at regular intervals in Tests.
He is now 31 years old, and he has all the ingredients to become South Africa’s greatest bowler of all time, surpassing the legacies of Dale Steyn and Allan Donald, among others.
Rabada Approaching Steyn For South Africa's Most Test Wickets Tally
Dale Steyn ended his illustrious yet injury-plagued 93-match Test career with 439 wickets. As mentioned above, Rabada is not far behind him.
However, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini are still above Rabada in the list of most Test wickets for South Africa. Pollock had 421 wickets in 108 matches, while Ntini had 390 wickets in 101 matches.
In South Africa’s successful 2023/25 World Test Championship cycle, Rabada was the pinnacle of their success. With 56 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 18.73, he finished as the leading wicket-taker for South Africa and helped Temba Bavuma lift the mace after defeating Australia in the final.
