Kagiso Rabada banned for final England Test: Details here
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada is set to miss the fourth Test match against England. Rabada was banned for the final Test following his celebration of Joe Root's dismissal on the first day of the third Test match. The right-arm pacer screamed next to the England skipper after bowling him for 27. Here's more on the same.
Rabada handed one demerit point, gets one-Test ban
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has given Rabada one demerit point, which means he now has four in a two-year period. This has resulted in his one-Test ban. After the day's play, Rabada went on to admit to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft. There was no need for a formal hearing after that.
Former England cricketers unhappy with Rabada's punishment
The decision to hand Rabada a demerit point hasn't gone well with many former cricketers. Former England pacer Graham Onions described the punishment as "harsh" on The Cricket Social. Meanwhile, former England batsman Jonathan Trott said to BBC, "I thought the celebration was a bit aggressive, but nothing that crossed the line." Former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted that the decision is absolutely bonkers.
Rabada violates Article 2.5 of the code
The fast bowler 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".
How the demerit points accumulated for Rabada?
Rabada had previously received demerit points in the bad-tempered 2018 Test series against Australia at home. The series was marred with the ball-tampering scandal involving Aussie players The third resulted from his celebration on dismissing Shikhar Dhawan in 2018. Meanwhile, this is the second time that Rabada has been banned on basis of demerit points. The first instance happened in 2017.
