Rabada edges closer to ban after send-off

Port Elizabeth :-South Africa’s star paceman Kagiso Rabada has moved closer to a second suspension in less than a year after he was found guilty of an ICC Code of Conduct breach on Tuesday.

Rabada, who was banned for a Test against England last July, has been fined 15 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point for his send-off of India’s Shikhar Dhawan in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth.

While another breach before or during the Australian series would have to be deemed serious enough to warrant three demerit points for it to led to a suspension, the star 22-year-old was found guilty of such a breach in February last year; he and Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella were both fined and handed three demerit points after they made avoidable physical contact during an ODI in Cape Town.

Rabada then received another demerit point for his send-off of England’s Ben Stokes last July, which saw him reach the lowest threshold of four demerit points and he was banned for one match.

This week’s sanction means he currently has five demerit points on his record and if he reaches the threshold of eight within a 24-month period, he could be suspended for up two Test matches.

Reaching eight demerit points means a player will be suspended from either two Tests; one Test and two ODIs/T20Is; or four ODIs/T20Is, whichever comes first.

Rabada is set to play in the final ODI against India on Friday but he has been rested from the T20 series that follows in order to prepare for the four-Test series against Australia, which starts on March 1.

In a statement, the ICC said Rabada, after dismissing Dhawan in Port Elizabeth, had “waved at the departing batsman and also made a comment which could have resulted in a reaction from the batsman.”