Kagiso Rabada's fitness in doubt ahead of first Test vs Australia
Synopsis
South Africa's Kagiso Rabada is in a race against time to prove his fitness for the first Test against Australia. A decision on the pacer, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, is expected to be made just before the match begins in Durban.
South Africa are expected to give pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada until the start of the first Test against Australia to prove his fitness ahead of the first match against Australia in the three-match series, beginning on October 9 at Kingsmead, according to the ICC website.
Rabada has not played at any level since featuring for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the end of May this year. The right-arm pacer is racing to recover in time for the three-match series against Australia after suffering a hamstring injury during training in August.
Last month, South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said that Rabada’s recovery was progressing well. The 31-year-old was also seen bowling in the nets during training on Wednesday ahead of the first Test in Durban.
Final call on Rabada's availability expected close to game time
However, Proteas teammate Simon Harmer indicated that a final decision on Rabada’s availability could be made only shortly before the start of the first Test.
"Everybody wants him to play. The spectators, us in the change room, the Australians. I obviously don't know exactly where he's at," Harmer said, as quoted by the ICC website. "There'll be a decision made, I'm sure, as close to the game as possible. He's proved season in, season out that he's a world-class player and he's only going to make our team better," he added.
Harmer said that even if Rabada misses the first Test against Australia, there would still be plenty of time in the coming months for the pacer to make an impact at Test level.
"I really hope that he does get in for the first Test, but there's a lot of cricket this summer, and I don't think we want to risk a short-term game for long-term damage," Harmer said.
Busy Summer for the Proteas
After their home series against Australia, South Africa will face Bangladesh in a two-match series in November before taking on England in a three-match home series in December, as they look to defend the World Test Championship (WTC) mace they won for the first time against Australia at Lord’s last year. (ANI)