Cricket South Africa has decided to withdraw their gun fast bowler Kagiso Rabada from the three-match ODI series against India in order to manage his workload.
The South African board wants to rest Rabada before the Test series against New Zealand.
Rabada was the pick of the South African bowlers in the three-match Test series against India as he scalped 20 wickets at an impressive average of 19.05. Thus, he finished as the leading wicket-taker in the Test series and played a key role in taking South Africa to a memorable series win.
Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada has been continuously playing in bio-secure bubbles since last September and this will be a much-needed break for him. Rabada was part of the tour of Sri Lanka and then played eight matches for Delhi Capitals in the second phase of IPL 2021. Subsequently, he took part in the T20I World Cup in which he played five matches before the Test series against India.
The ODI series against India will be completed on January 23 and South Africa will travel to New Zealand on February 2.
George Linde has been added to the South Africa ODI squad as a spin-bowling option.
CSA’s statement said: “No replacement will be brought in for [Rabada] as there is an extended squad in place in the Bio-Secure Environment (BSE), but George Linde has been retained from the Test team as an extra spin-bowling option for the series.”
Meanwhile, Marco Jansen who made an impressive start to his Test career against India is expected to make his ODI debut. Jansen finished as the second-highest wicket-taker of the Test series as he scalped 19 wickets in three matches at an average of 16.47. The lanky fast bowler will look to carr his good form in white-ball format.
The first ODI between India and South Africa will be played on Wednesday.
