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The South African coach concerned about the workload with Rabada has not played a Test since January
Kagiso Rabada is not an automatic selection for the Wanderers Test despite his status as leader of the attack and the match in his field. Rabada joined the South Africa team after four weeks on the sidelines with a groin strain, sustained during the T20 series against England.
He was scheduled to not participate in the three ODIs, which were postponed, and missed the Boxing Day test, but he joined the South African biobubble, where national coaches will work with him to determine his readiness for the cricket test.
“Because his name is Kagiso Rabada, we would like to play with him, but we have to handle his load,” said South Africa coach Mark Boucher. “He is coming back from injury, so we will only monitor his progress.”
South Africa is also hoping to have Beuran Hendricks back on the squad after he was retired last week, alongside Keegan Petersen. “Beuran is going through medical protocols to get into the bubble,” Boucher said. “He’s had to have a Covid test or two, in addition to checking what his antibody tests are.”
Rabada and Hendricks will act as a cover for Glenton Stuurman, who should have made his SuperSport Park debut but was left out with an issue that is still being addressed, and Lungi Ngidi, who had a minor injury in the run-up to Centurion. South Africa also has Migael Pretorius and Dwaine Pretorius in reserve. Petersen won’t be added yet, because all the hitters on the current team are in top form.
“The guys we’re looking to get in are just to cover injuries. We need coverage especially for bowlers because we’ve had a criticism or two,” Boucher said. “A player has to be injured to be replaced. If there is no injury to a batter, no batter can enter the bubble.”
South Africa has Kyle Verreynne, Raynard van Tonder and Sarel Erwee, in addition to the top six who played at SuperSport Park, which probably won’t change for the Wanderers. “We just had 600, why would you want to change our batting order?” Boucher said. “In test cricket, you wait for your chance to come along. We have a couple of very good hitters waiting behind the scenes and we will continue to work with them to get them ready if their opportunity comes. For now, it will be very good. It’s hard for me to change a batting order he’s been through a couple of tough times as of late, and he played well. I’ll take the 600 and keep working on that. We have a tough test series against Pakistan and Aus. This is not the time to start experimenting. “
The same does not apply to front-line bowlers, whom Boucher acknowledges must be rotated to protect them from injury and ensure rapids have enough time to increase their workload.
“Sometimes with bowlers, you just want to play a guy for the sake of playing him because he’s your best bowler and you have to consider his workload, from a mental side, from a physical side. You have to eliminate the excitement of him and make a smart cricket decision, “said Boucher. “Let’s say for a guy like KG, we want to play with him all the time, but he has to increase his workload [or] there is a high risk of injury. Then we would be committing an injustice, not only with him but with ourselves. “
Rabada hasn’t played an audition since January, against England in Port Elizabeth, and hasn’t played any first-class cricket this summer. The lack of red ball game time combined with the long period of inaction due to the Coronavirus lockdown could leave you more susceptible to injury if you enter a Test without proper preparation. That was evident in the opposition field, where Sri Lanka lost two rapids in the Test, something that could be attributed to its greater load in a short space of time.
Boucher had a certain sympathy for his counterpart. “It is very difficult in these times to prepare,” he said. “We haven’t had a lot of cricket, games have been postponed or canceled. We have to continually think outside the box to try and increase our workload so that we can throw 20 overs a day.
“It’s easier for hitters to work on their fitness. You can shoot. But it’s difficult to throw 20 overs in your backfield. You have to try to simulate a game situation. You may have to throw 10 overs in the morning then come back in the afternoon and throw another 10 overs, and while you’re busy waiting you walk across the field, and that’s trying to simulate what you would do in a game. You can’t put the guys in cotton and just have them throw six overs and they think that they’re ready for a test match. You can’t just tell a guy to rock up and throw 20 overs now. You have to strengthen him, so if you want to push him, his body can handle it. “
All of South Africa’s attacks were tested on Centurion. Anrich Nortje, who had not played red ball cricket since January, threw the most overs with 22, Wiaan Mulder, in his second test, sent 20 overs, while Ngidi and Sipamla threw 19 and 16 respectively. If he fits, everyone will be in contention in the Wanderers, as was Keshav Maharaj after Boucher indicated South Africa would not go full throttle.
“I’m not a big fan of going to a test match without a roulette wheel. It’s very dangerous,” Boucher said. “As we saw with Sri Lanka in this game, if they didn’t have a roulette, they would have had even more problems. I doubt we will go without Keshav.”
Firdose Moonda is a correspondent for ESPNcricinfo in South Africa
