From rivalry in school to IPL, Proteas mates Markram, Klaasen Rabada reminisce on school cricket days, spirit of competition

Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], April 9 : Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), Hyderabad batters Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen and Punjab pacer Kagiso Rabada, three South African cricket stars, opened up on battling against each other during their school days and the spirit of competition that drives their encounters against each other in these days of T20 franchise cricket.
SRH will be locking horns with PBKS at the Mullanpur Stadium on Tuesday. SRH are at the fifth spot in the points table with two wins and two losses. Punjab, who also have the same win-loss ratio and points as SRH, are placed sixth due to an inferior net run rate.
Speaking in a video posted by the IPL's X (formerly Twitter) handle, Rabada spoke about facing Aiden for the first time during his school days, while he was playing for St Stithians against Markram's school team, Pretoria Boys.
"The first time I bowled at Aiden was a school match and that was St Stithians versus Pretoria boys. He batted very well in that game," said Rabada.
Klaasen said that Rabada is very competitive. "He does not like losing and that is why he is the world's best," he added.
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The hard-hitting SRH batter recalled playing a school game against Kagiso during a school game. Even back then, the Proteas pacer was gathering headlines and turning around heads for his pace.
"I do not know if it was the first time, but one of the first few times I remember playing a school game against him at his school, St Stithians in Johannesburg. Everyone was just speaking about how quick he was and how good he was and obviously, us as a school went there expecting to face quite a bit of heat and it was a day and night game which you never really play at school and it was quite cool so we faced him there, he bowled really well against us but I think that was the first memory I had of KG (Rabada)," explained Klaasen.
On antics of batters that Rabada hates, Markram said that he is generally not too phased, but he gets fed up with himself at times more than the batters because of the high standards he sets for himself.
"He (Rabada) is not scared to show his presence on the field as we have seen before. He has always in the battle. He is a massive competitor, as I said, and I do not think any bowler will like it if a batter sort of gets in their space. But definitely with KG, if you get in his space, he will be up for it and sort of let you know that you're in his space," added Markram.
Speaking more on Rabada's personality, Klaasen said that the pacer is funny and likes some "inside jokes".
"He makes some funny comments, so that's the one thing that puts a smile on everyone's faces in the training room," he added.
Klaasen said that he luckily does not get to face Rabada too often in the nets, but he is highly competitive and working on his skillset continuously.
"He has been number one in the world and top of the pile in the world and I think he is very highly skillful so it is going to be interesting to face him again," added Klaasen.
Markram said that Rabada is a massive competitor and he enjoys getting into friendly, healthy battles with his former U19 teammate, with whom he won the 2014 U19 World Cup as a captain.
Markram was adjudged as the 'Player of the Tournament in the tournament, scoring 370 runs at an average of over 123, with two centuries and a fifty in six matches. He was the third-highest run-getter. Rabada also played a vital role in the team's title win, taking 14 wickets in five matches, including a six-wicket haul.
"KG himself is a massive competitor so I enjoy getting into battles as well and not that it is a battle where it is do or die, it is just a normal competitive, healthy competitiveness between us and obviously we have come along for quite a few years together now. To see him sort of excel the way he has pretty much straight from under 19 and to continue that to where he is now in his career has been amazing to watch," said Markram about Rabada.
Punjab Kings Squad: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Harpreet Brar, Ashutosh Sharma, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Liam Livingstone, Rilee Rossouw, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Chris Woakes, Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Nitish Reddy, Pat Cummins(c), Jaydev Unadkat, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan, Travis Head, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Upendra Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh.