Kagiso Rabada Suspended For Fourth Test Against England

Kagiso Rabada is set to miss the Wanderers Test against England after being handed a 15% fine and a demerit point for giving a sendoff to Joe Root in the ongoing third Test in Port Elizabeth. The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed the news through a media release on Friday. The South Africa pace spearhead was found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.

Kagiso Rabada 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”.

On the opening day of the Test on Thursday, Kagiso Rabada had celebrated in an animated manner after dismissing the England captain. After the day’s play, Rabada admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft. As a result, there was no need for a formal hearing.

It was Kagiso Rabada’s fourth demerit points in a 24 month period and thus, he will miss South Africa’s next Test match. As per rules, four or more demerit points are converted into suspension points leading to a player getting banned for a particular period of time. Two of his three previous demerit points came in the bad-tempered 2018 Test series against Australia, which culminated in the Australia ball-tampering scandal. The third resulted from his celebration on dismissing India’s Shikhar Dhawan earlier the same year.

This is also the second time that Kagiso Rabada has been banned for an accumulation of demerit points. He was banned for the first time during South Africa’s tour of England in 2017, when he missed the second Test at Trent Bridge.

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