After his team got eliminated from World Cup 2019 with a 49-run loss to Pakistan at Lord's on Sunday (June 23), South Africa captain Faf du Plessis revealed he and the management had asked pacer Kagiso Rabada to sit out of this year's Indian Premier League in order to be fresh for the quadrennial event in United Kingdom.
Rabada bagged 25 wickets at 14.72 from 12 games for Delhi Capitals. But hasn't come close to replicating those numbers at the World Cup so far. He failed against Pakistan too, with his spell of 0/65 allowing the opposition to post a very strong 308/7 in Proteas' fifth loss of the tournament.
"I don't think we'll ever have a perfect answer for that because he's probably biting on too much. But we did try and get him not to go to the IPL; to try and stay and get fresh. That wasn't the case of -- and then when he went there, we were like, let's try and get him back halfway through the IPL because it's important, not just for him, but a few other players," Du Plessis told reporters at the post-match press conference.
Rabada picked up a back injury while playing for Delhi and had to be ruled out of the IPL by Cricket South Africa (CSA) as a precautionary measure. Du Plessis reckons players like him, who play all the three formats regularly, are vulnerable to injuries and would invariably go through poor form.
"So I don't think it's not necessarily just the IPL, but it was important for a few guys to rest; and the fact that they didn't meant that they -- you know, they came into the tournament not fresh. That's not an excuse; that's just a fact. And KG is -- you can see that his pace is probably a little bit down from where he normally is."
"You can't, unfortunately, go back with the national side and say to KG: Listen, you're going to rest for the next two series'. He's such a big player for the team; it's a difficult thing to do," added Faf on Rabada, who has taken only six wickets in seven World Cup games at an average of 50.83, which pales in comparison to his career bowling average of 27.74.
"I mean, that was the plan with Anrich [Nortje] in the back-up and pipeline, and he got injured, as well. So therefore all our pace is gone and there's so much responsibility on KG to carry that load of being the lone fast bowler."
However, Du Plessis backed Rabada to come out of his issues soon and rediscover the lost mojo. "KG is trying. You haven't started the tournament well; and therefore, your confidence has taken a bit of a hit, and it just rolls on. It's such a snowball effect that your performance, you open your eyes, and you're doing the same thing again," he said.
"At the moment, he is feeling like he needs to do something, but it's not happening for him, and therefore, you're not seeing that same intensity when he bowls. Or not bowls. Or when he celebrates a wicket or when he's going through after the over bat to his mark," Faf concluded.
(Inputs from News18)
