South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada slams the board over the scheduling of the Test series against New Zealand. The tour saw CSA hand out debuts to more than half a dozen stars as the rest of the star players were committed to playing the SA20 at the same time. The Proteas pacer points out that the tour had a planning issue and is unacceptable till date.
Furious Rabada lashes out at South Africa cricket board
“If I can go back on that point, it is not fair to go at the players. It is not fair to say that players are being picked and they got free Test caps. I don’t think it is fair to put that criticism on the players. They simply got asked to go there, and at the end of the day, they are not going to say no,” Rabada told PTI.
“That is a planning issue and it has got to do with what is happening at the higher level; what happened with Cricket South Africa. It was basically a double book, that was what it was.”
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“End of the day, we didn’t really get a choice to even go there (New Zealand) because of the importance of the SA20. It is like shooting yourself in the foot,” said the 28-year-old, who considers Test cricket as the number one format of the game.”
“Cricket comes from Test cricket and Test, from my perspective, is the best format. I would imagine all great players who play all formats would say Test cricket is their favourite format. It is the same for me as well.”
SA’s second grade team for NZ series
The squad announced by CSA comprised of seven uncapped players. It included the introduction of a new captain in the form of left-handed opening batsman Neil Brand. Batsmen Keegan Petersen and David Bedingham are the lone survivors from South Africa’s recent Test victory against India in Centurion.
The decision to prioritize players not engaged in the SA20 competition had triggered backlash among cricket enthusiasts.
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