South Africa’s premier fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has been banned by the International Cricket Council for the fourth Test against England that will be held at Johannesburg. The 24-year old has been reprimanded for his send-off to England skipper Joe Root during Day 1 of the third Test at Port Elizabeth after he bowled the batter in the 65th over.
Rabada received a demerit point for the send-off, which saw him run to Root and scream as he was walking back to the pavilion. As the bowler already had three demerit points, Rabada will miss the final Test that commences from January 25. Under the ICC regulations, any player who accumulates four demerit points in 24 months will be banned for either one Test, two ODIs or two T20Is.
An ICC statement said: “The South African bowler was found to have violated Article 2.5 of the code, which relates to using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his or her dismissal during an international match’.
“The charge relates to Rabada’s actions following the dismissal of Joe Root. After the day’s play, Rabada admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing. The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Rod Tucker and Bruce Oxenford and third umpire Joel Wilson as well as fourth umpire Allahudien Paleker.”
Rabada’s past instances that earned him a demerit point
The South African has previously earned three demerit points in the last 24 months, all, incidentally, at Port Elizabeth. The first involved Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan in an ODI in February 2018, from when his cycle started. The next two instances came in the controversial Test series against Australia, which became famous for the sandpaper saga.
Rabada, in the second Test against Australia, was reprimanded for his send-off to David Warner and Steven Smith. Originally, the fast bowler has been banned for the final two matches of the series, after the ICC had given him three demerit points for his gesture. However, the Proteas protested against the same after the ICC accused Rabada of deliberately brushing against Smith as he was walking away.
South Africa had won the appeal, then, and Rabada was just punished with demerit points. He was free to play the remaining Tests.
Earlier, Rabada had also been banned during South Africa’s tour to England in 2017 when he used abusive and foul language after he sent back Ben Stokes on Day 1 of the Lord’s Test. That offence had fetched him four demerit points and he was banned for the subsequent Test.