Advised Kagiso Rabada to not play the IPL this year, says Faf du Plessis

Morning shows the day, same was the case for South Africa. Faf du Plessis’ men lost the opening match of the World Cup 2019 versus hosts England by 104 runs. From there on, the Proteas lost literally everything. Barring their nine-wicket victory against Afghanistan at the Sophia Gardens in Caridiff, they have had very little to cheer in the mega event and now have been knocked out before the semis.

On June 23, Pakistan thrashed them by 49 runs and that drilled the final nail in the coffin of their hopes. After the shambolic defeat, skipper Faf du Plessis wasn’t a happy man by any means. He also expressed displeasure with Kagiso Rabada, their premier fast bowler. Faf mentioned that Rabada was advised to not play the IPL this year in order to stay fresh, but the pacer took part in the T20 tournament.

Adding to South Africa’s worry, he complained of back injury and was withdrawn half-way through the tournament. In the World Cup, he hasn’t been near his very best, picking up only six wickets in seven matches. His economy has also remained pretty high at 5.25. An agitated Du Plessis put forth the importance of getting adequate rest, especially before an extravaganza like the World Cup.

Rabada’s pace is probably a little bit down: Faf

“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.

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. So I don’t think it’s not necessarily just the IPL, but it was important for a few guys to rest,” a rather disappointed Du Plessis said in the post-match press conference.

“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,” the 34-year-old added.

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Having already been shown the door of elimination, the Proteas are left with only a couple of games where they’ll be playing to restore some pride. South Africa’s next match is against Sri Lanka on June 28 at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street.