Rabada: This can’t keep happening

Kagiso Rabada has given his teammates and the cricketing public the assurance that he’ll knuckle down and work on his on-field emotions as he contemplates being suspended for the crucial final Test against England at the Wanderers, starting on Friday.

The Proteas’ bowling kingpin was handed a demerit point by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his send-off of English skipper Joe Root during the heavy defeat to the visitors in Port Elizabeth, enough to trigger his sanction.

“It can’t keep happening, because I’m letting the team down and I’m letting myself down,” said Rabada, who only managed to stave off an earlier suspension in 2018 against Australia by winning an appeal.

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“It just can’t keep happening and that’s why it hurts so much.”

The 25-year-old quick admitted that he was surprised by the governing body’s decision to charge him for the PE offence in the first place, especially since Rabada didn’t making any eye or physical contact with Root in sending him off.

“It’s something that I didn’t expect. Whether it was the right thing to ban me, or the wrong thing, the reality is that I am banned. Obviously it hurts, but it gives me a chance to work on my game and to have a bit of a rest,” he said.

Indeed, Rabada can do with a bit of a rest as his heavy workload continues to come under the spotlight, though some argue that South Africa’s depth is of such a nature at the moment that he’s indispensable despite not firing on all cylinders.

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But he’s confident his replacement – the popular pick is Highveld Lions teammates Beuran Hendricks – will fill his void effectively.

“I have belief in anyone who is going to come into my spot that they have the ability to knock anyone over. That is why they are picked for South Africa.”

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