Spotlight falls firmly on Maphaka as Proteas seek to fill Rabada void

Kwena Maphaka’s projected stardom needs to start reaching the brightness of its promise in the upcoming season, with the left-arm seamer’s ability facing greater scrutiny at domestic and international level.

“It’s time for him to find his identity, time for him to find himself in red-ball cricket,” stated DP World Lions bowling coach Allan Donald.

Maphaka has played only two first-class matches for the Lions, and in the last of those in October 2025, suffered a grade three hamstring tear that sidelined him for more than two months.

Ironically it is a similar injury to Maphaka’s Lions teammate and Proteas spearhead Kagiso Rabada that has thrown Maphaka’s name firmly into the Test team mix, ahead of a busy summer for South Africa.

Rabada will miss the ODI series with Australia that starts on September 24, because of the hamstring ailment picked up while training.

It was Donald who revealed that Rabada would miss the Test series with Pat Cummins’ men though, Cricket SA have subsequently stated, Rabada’s status for that series was dependent on the rehabilitation process.

Nevertheless a packed international schedule means Maphaka would have likely featured for the national team at some stage of the season, which is why Donald is so keen for him to get in match time with the Lions as soon as possible.

“With Kwena I would just like to see him find himself in the (four-day) format. He desperately wants to play Test cricket.

“The groundwork for him is to spend time (in domestic cricket) and feel what it is to bowl long, to come back (for a spell) and then come back for another and build his body up. Let’s hope that happens,” said Donald.

Maphaka, speaking on Monday from Windhoek, where he is currently with the Proteas T20 squad, said he’d spent the winter months working on improving his bowling.

“The biggest thing was working on my consistency. I was decent in the T20 format but there was a lot of work to do in the longer formats — that would also help in T20s,” he said.

“I worked a bit on my run-up. The biggest thing was to hit an area as consistently as possible and I feel I have done that so far.”

If he is going to play Test cricket, it is a massive step up for a young guy. I’m sure he’ll be saying ‘no problem, no sweat,’ but Test cricket is a different beast

—  Allan Donald, DP World Lions bowling coach

The different demands of the T20 format and the first class game, make implementing what is needed to be a better Test bowler difficult, especially at a formative stage of his career.

“He’s played so much white ball cricket, and he’s not had time to build his body and know what his body can do.

“If he is going to play Test cricket, it is a massive step up for a young guy. I’m sure he’ll be saying ‘no problem, no sweat,’ but Test cricket is a different beast,” Donald said.

Maphaka has been in high demand since bursting onto the scene at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup, where he claimed 21 wickets and was named player of the tournament.

A few months later he was called up to the IPL by Mumbai Indians and in August made his T20 International debut against the West Indies.

He featured in two Tests in 2025 and besides the two four-day matches for the Lions, the other pair of first class matches he’s played have been for SA A.

Donald drew a comparison with a former under-19 teammate of Maphaka’s, Dewald Brevis, for an example of the benefits of playing domestic cricket.

“It’s a little like Brevis who has leap-frogged everything into big (franchise) leagues and when he spent a year and half in domestic cricket, we then saw a different guy.”

Brevis played all eight of the Titans’ Four-Day series matches in the 2024/25 season, and was their highest run-scorer with 573, at an average of 47.75. He made two centuries, and helped them to a share of the trophy with the Lions.

The Lions have been told that Maphaka will be available for their second match of the newly named First Class Series when they face the promoted Free State Knights at the Grey College Oval in Bloemfontein.

“It’s a small field and the track is flat … so it will be a test,” said Donald.

Maphaka feels he is ready to fill Rabada’s shoes, if called upon.

“I’m really confident in my abilities. I’ve led a bowling attack with the Lions and SA under-19, I think I’ll be able to do the job if I’m asked to do so,” he said.