Rabada banned for Wanderers Test after Root celebration South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada (2nd right) celebrates after the dismissal of England’s Joe Root (2nd left) while South Africa’s Pieter Malan (left) and South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen (right) looks on during the first day of the third Test cricket match between South Africa and England at the St George’s Park Cricket Ground in Port Elizabeth on Thursday

Cape Town — South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada will miss the fourth Test against England at Wanderers after being docked one demerit point for his celebrations in dismissing England captain Joe Root on Thursday. 

The news was confirmed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday. 

Rabada has also been fined 15% of his match fee having been “found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel during the first day of the third Test match against England in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.”

The South African bowler was found to have violated Article 2.5 of the ICC code of conduct, 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.”

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.

Rabada has now accumulated four demerit points in a 24 month period and as such will miss South Africa’s next Test match.

Rabada’s three previous demerit points had come in February and March in 2018, which included his infamous “shoulder bump” with then-Australian captain Steve Smith, also at St George’s Park.

Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada was criticised by former West Indies fast bowling great Michael Holding and ex-England batsman Kevin Pietersen yesterday after incurring a ban which will put him out of the fourth and final Test against England in Johannesburg next week.

The South Africa fast bowler pleaded guilty to a level one breach of the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct because of the way he celebrated the dismissal of England captain Joe Root during the first day of the third Test at St George’s Park on Thursday. 

He was fined 15 percent of his match fee and handed one demerit point. As it was his fourth demerit point in a 24-month period he incurred an automatic one-match ban, ruling him out of next week’s fourth Test in Johannesburg.

“He has to learn,” said Holding, who was commentating for SuperSport television.

“You can’t keep making the same mistakes. He has to remember he is damaging his team. South Africa without Rabada at the Wanderers — that’s a big blow.”

After bowling Root, Rabada charged down the pitch before celebrating with fists clenched almost within touching distance of the England captain.

Rabada pleaded guilty to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his or her dismissal”.

Fellow commentator Pietersen said the way Rabada got close to batsmen after dismissing them was unacceptable. 

“He shouldn’t be celebrating in a batsman’s personal space,” he said, adding Rabada had behaved in a similar way after dismissing Zak Crawley during the second Test in Cape Town.

“I feel sorry for (South African captain) Faf du Plessis and (coach) Mark Boucher,” said Pietersen. “South Africa are going to miss their strike bowler at the Wanderers.”

However, former England captain Nasser Hussain defended Rabada.

“Cricket has shot itself in the foot,” Hussain told Sky Sports.

“Was there any physical contact? Was there any sledging? A bowler showed some emotion.

“I don’t think he made a mistake yesterday. He was foolish for someone on three demerit points to do that. I think we’re sanitising the game if we can’t have anything like that.” 

He said fans who had bought tickets to see Rabada bowl in the fourth Test would feal cheated.

Another ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan also backed the South African bowler.

A demanding Test debut for Beuran Hendricks at the Wanderers next week just moved a whole lot closer through Kagiso Rabada’s latest disciplinary misdemeanour for the Proteas.

The left-arm seamer, who would automatically provide variety and a different angle to the pace attack, seems the most logical beneficiary of Rabada’s extremely costly one-Test ban by the International Cricket Council for the decisive fourth and final clash against England in the Bullring. — Sport24.

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