Rabada claimed the No.1 spot on the back of strong form for the Proteas during the ongoing ICC World Test Championship, with the right-armer taking his 300th Test wicket during South Africa's recent seven-wicket triumph over Bangladesh in Mirpur.
"With 16 wickets on day one, I'd say it's leaning towards the bowlers," Rabada said.
Steady rain restricted play to just the final session on the fourth day.
Rabada called on all the players in the tournament to seize the moment.
It was Rabada's 14th five-wicket haul in his 61st Test and his fourth in eight Tests at Centurion, but his first against India.
India were 208 for eight when bad light followed by rain brought an early close.
Kohli and Iyer went on to add 68 for the fourth wicket before both were dismissed in an inspired three-wicket spell by Rabada immediately after lunch.
The World Cup moves to Mumbai with two of the heavyweights feeling the pressure and needing to bounce back from shock defeats faced in the previous round of the mega event.
The fiery Rabada took six wickets for 50 runs as South Africa bowled out the tourists for 159 after the West Indies had been set a target of 247 to win
David Warner hits a magnificent century for Australia but could not prevent South Africa from completing a clean sweep by winning the fifth and final ODI
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada is named South African Cricketer of the Year Tuesday in Johannesburg and receives five other awards.
Paceman Kagiso Rabada leads a brilliant South Africa bowling display to lift the Proteas to a 47-run win over Australia in the triangular one-day international series.
Distinctly charismatic and undeniably courageous, Soumya Sarkar is making headlines and heads turn with his unforgettable knocks, only in 16 matches of his ODI career.
Two one-sided matches, with the teams batting first folding for identical scores and losing by big margins, have given the third ODI at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium the status of a final.
Bangladesh's troubles seem more tactical in nature, although captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said that their strategy of using eight batsmen was a confidence issue.
With debutant Kagiso Rabada’s hat-trick at Mirpur today, only two bowlers have managed to bag a hat-trick against the Tigers in ODI history.