South Africa cricketer Kagiso Rabada has termed the scheduling fiasco that led to first-choice players choosing SA20 over New Zealand Test tour as 'unacceptable' while also terming it as a planning issue. There was widespread criticism of Cricket South Africa (CSA) with many terming it as 'killing Test cricket' as well. The under-strength South Africa side lost the two-match Test series 2-0 under the captaincy of Neil Brand who also made his Test debut in the series itself.
As for the first-choice players, it has been mentioned in their contract that they will have to be available for their respective SA20 teams irrespective of the situation which led to the Proteas naming an inexperienced line-up. "It was very very unacceptable and remains unacceptable to date. It was obviously a planning issue. It is unacceptable that is all I would say about that," Rabada said while speaking to PTI in an interview.
The Proteas fast bowler who is currently playing for Punjab Kings in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) expressed his sentiments for the players who toured New Zealand and reckoned it was not fair for them as well. "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 added.
Meanwhile, the 28-year-old fast bowler lauded BCCI for incentivising the players for playing more Test matches throughout the year. "You pay cricketers (well) but it is a culture as well. It is not just about the money because the money these days the cricketers are blessed with. They can make enough money through the leagues. It is great what the BCCI is doing to incentivise Test players. But it is also a culture as all cricket comes from Test cricket," he further added.
