South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will not play the upcoming three-match ODI series against India citing workload management, Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed on Tuesday. CSA said Rabada was being released from the squad “due to high workloads over a sustained period of time and the need for him to recover prior the outbound Test series against New Zealand next month.”

Incidentally, Rabada has been playing inside a bio-secure bubble since September when South Africa travelled to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and the same number of T20Is, before joining Delhi Capitals for the second half of IPL 2021.

That tournament ran straight into the T20 World Cup. There was a break of a month and a half following the global tournament, then South Africa’s Tests against India kicked off on Boxing Day.

The ODI series against India finishes on January 23 while South Africa are scheduled to leave for New Zealand on February 2, where they are likely to undergo quarantine between 10-14 days. The two Tests against New Zealand starting on February 17, and after that South Africa return home for two Tests against Bangladesh in mid-March.

With important series lined up, Kagiso Rabada has been handed a much-needed break to recover and come all guns blazing against the Kiwis.

Marco Jansen in line for ODI debut in place of Kagiso Rabada

With senior statesman Kagiso Rabada missing, young fast bowler Marco Jansen is all set for his ODI debut in Paarl tonight. The tall and lanky left-arm pacer impressed heavily in the Tests and is likely to partner Lungi Ngidi, who will lead the pace attack.

The selectors will not announce any replacement for Kagiso Rabada; however, spinner George Linde has been asked to stay with the squad.

“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,” CSA said in a statement. 

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