CAPE TOWN: South Africa have decided to rest fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for the three Twenty20 Inter­n­ationals against Pakistan next month.

The 23-year-old is considered key to South Africa’s ambitions of winning their first-ever World Cup in England this year, and with a lot of cricket to be played between now and then, it was considered best to use the T20 week to give Rabada some much-needed time off.

The Proteas have three more ODIs against Pakistan with the series tied at 1-1 before the T20 series with fixtures on Feb 1 (Newlands), Feb 3 (Wanderers) and Feb 6 (Centurion). Then, on March 13, the Proteas begin a three-match Test series against Sri Lanka that will be followed by five more ODIs while Rabada and a number of his team-mates will also be heading off to the IPL from March 29.

Giving Rabada the whole of February off gives him one month to recharge his batteries ahead of what is set to be a massive season for South Africa cricket.

Rabada on Tuesday was the only South African named in the ICC’s Test team of the year for 2018 and he finished the year as the world’s leading wicket-taker in the format.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2019