Cricket Now 24/7

Quality Cricket Articles | Schedules | Updates

Kagiso Rabada Suspended For Johannesburg Test For ‘Wild’ Celebration Against Joe Root

By Leave a Comment

Kagiso Rabada banned after joe roots wicket celebration
Image source: Naparazzi via Wikimedia Commons

South Africa ace Kagiso Rabada has been suspended for the fourth Test against England following his ‘wild’ celebration against opposition captain Joe Root after he bagged the prized wicket of the latter, on day one of the third Test in Port Elizabeth. The 24-year-old was also handed a demerit point by the ICC, alongside a chop-off of 15%  of his match fee.

Rabada, known to be on the brighter, more expressive side of his emotions, has piled up three demerit points in the last 24 months for various reasons. He was charged for breaching code of conduct twice against Australia in 2018, as well as for a send-off of Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan in February earlier that year.

This time around, upon sending Root’s off stump for a cartwheel when the Englishman was on 27. Rabada, fired up as ever, charged right up to Root and expressed all he could.

The speedster, according to ICC’s Code of Conduct, has been penalized for “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.”

Should he accumulate four more demerit points in the same time frame, Rabada will be suspended for a further two Tests; one Test and two ODIs/T20Is; or four ODIs/T20Is – whichever comes first for him.

Many pundits and analysts zeroed in on the matter, with Mike Atherton being one of them. He asserted:

“It’s a fundamental point that we can’t ignore; he’s a very slow learner. He’s got previous. It’s not a ban based on what happened yesterday but an accumulation of errors. But I don’t have a problem with that celebration. He’s not swearing at the batsman, he’s not abusing the batsman.”

While Atherton, Nasser Hussain, and Michael Vaughan were in favor of Rabada, fast-bowling sensation Michael Holding believes the player ought to change his behavior after repeated warnings.

As of now, Rabada and co. are lined up with a task of saving the Test match following a remarkable first innings tally of 499 from the visitors.

 

Related Reading:

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply