South Africa were knocked out of World Cup 2019 by Pakistan as the latter restricted the Proteas to a total of 259/9, winning the contest by 49 runs, after posting 308 at the Lord’s Cricket Stadium, London.
Once again, the batting as well as bowling failed to provide support to each other as the Proteas’ run of being ‘chokers’ in major tournaments continues. Speaking during the press conference, Faf du Plessis, the 32 year-old captain, revealed how he and his team management wanted Kagiso Rabada to take rest from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and keep himself fresh ahead of World Cup 2019. He added he stressed on not only Rabada but few other players too to take rest because of their hectic game schedule.
“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. I mean, I spoke about it before the IPL even started, that it’s important that we try and find space to rest our three-format players, because they play all the formats all the time, and then IPL,” said the 32 year old captain.
Rabada’s journey in this World Cup has been way below his standard. He managed to bag only 6 wickets in this tournament with an average of 50.83, much higher than his ODI career average of 27.74. Speaking about the potency and workload on Rabada, du Plessis said he is biting on too much and if you look him he’s tired and his pace is little bit down from what he bowls normally.
He further added that the fast bowler needs to learn and get better. He backed him by saying that he has been doing great for the nation and his career graph has been going up and up and this is probably his first low during his career.
South Africa will now play against Sri Lanka on June 28, which will be followed by their last game of the tournament against Australia on July 6.
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