The South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has opened on his one-month suspension due to the use of the recreational drug, saying that he had spoken to his teammates and was open to going into further detail if needed.
After serving the ban, Kagiso is set to return to the highest level of cricket, where he has to face further consequences. He must clear the requirements and endure whatever is needed to face the media, preparing for World Test Championship (WTC) Finals after being named in the South Africa squad.
“I think I owe it to them [to talk about what happened] – they’re my teammates,” said Kagiso Rabada. “We’ve come from so far, you know, and to my closest people I owe it to them.
“Look, this is not an ideal situation. I don’t need too many pats on the back here. I’m going to be joining with them again. I’ve already spoken to them and I guess we can do so in more detail when we get together for an extended amount of time.”
Kagiso Rabada had flied back home from IPL 2025 late in March supposed ‘Personal reasons’ before the facts of his misdemeanours were rolled out his testing positive for a drug that was either cannabis, cocaine, heroine or ecstasy as per the code of the South Africa Institute of Drug-Free Sport.
He returned to India to play two further games of Gujarat Titans (GT) following the end of his suspension.
Kagiso Rabada did not disclose in public the circumstance that led to him taking the banned substance, but he had tested positive in January during SA20 League.
“It led me to a bit of introspection about myself, and I took some time away from the game,” he said. “I think the biggest thing I took away from it is having gratitude for playing the game that we love. I’m just glad to be playing again… the process was handled really well.”
Rabada admitting to the offence is understodd to have led to him being handed a more lenient punishement.
“The decision to come back early [from the IPL] was brilliant, and that’s a decision that I made,” Rabada said. “I could have tried to contest it and whatnot, but coming home was the best option, and I was in good hands. All the parties that were involved made the whole process smooth.”
“I think, as a player, and a man, people will have their different opinions. I can live with that.”
Though he had issued a statement in which he’d apologised to fans, he said he was looking forward to just playing cricket for South Africa again.
“As you would have seen in my statement there are some people who would have been disappointed. And to those people I’m deeply sorry,” Rabada said. “The people closest to me are the ones I felt I let down.
“But life moves on. I’ll never be ‘Mr-I-Apologise’ too much. But I’ll never condone that action,” concluded Kagiso Rabada. South Africa will be meeting Australia in the WTC finals starting on June 11 at Lord’s.
