South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from playing in the fourth and final Test against England in Johannesburg after he gave a send-off to England captain Joe Root in the third match in Port Elizabeth.
The incident happened when he clean bowled Root in the 65th over of the opening day, after which he ran up to him and screamed in excitement. Rabada’s ban is a big blow to his team as he has been in great form, having picked 14 wickets in the series so far.
Rabada already had three demerit points and picking the fourth point in a 24-month period means he will miss either one Test, two ODIs or two T20Is. His previous three points came in the Test series against India and Australia at home two years ago.
Although the young bowler has been banned, he has gained sympathy from former England captain Michael Vaughan. In his tweet, Vaughan called the banning of Rabada for celebrating the wicket of Root as “absolute bonkers”. He said people are let off despite bowling slow and get banned for celebrating a wicket. “The World is bloody nuts,” he added.
Vaughan’s tweet had a reply from New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan who came up with a sarcastic comment. He said: “Ban him” and added that people hate the best players in the world playing anyway.
Rabada getting a 1 game ban for celebrating taking the Wicket of the opponents best player is absolutely bonkers … Over rates & slow play nothing gets done … Celebrate a wicked and you are banned … The World is bloody nuts … #SAvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 17, 2020
Meanwhile, Mark Boucher also came to Rabada’s rescue, saying he found nothing wrong with the way the 24-year-old celebrated. “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it,” he said of Rabada’s celebration. “You don’t want to take all the aggression out of the game. He wasn’t even looking at him. Yes, he was in his space but the two put together there are probably different ways you can look at it.”
