IPL 2024: Kagiso Rabada flies back home ahead of Punjab Kings' final league game due to muscle injury

Kagiso Rabada has reached home as per Cricket South Africa’s statement.

Kagiso Rabada, Punjab Kings (PBKS) South African pacer, has flown back home from Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, with a serious injury. He will not be part of PBKS’ final two league games in the ongoing tournament.

Rabada played 11 matches for the PBKS and took 11 wickets at an economy of 8.85 but will not feature in their last two matches. Punjab have already been eliminated from the play-offs race and will play their last league game on May 19.

PBKS have already been depleted as Liam Livingstone has flown back home due to an injury and stand-in captain Sam Curran and opener Jonny Bairstow will also leave for England after the game against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.

ECB had called back all of its T20 World Cup-bound players from IPL before the playoffs, as England are set to play a four-match T20I series against Pakistan at home to prepare for the ICC event.

Kagiso Rabada is being closely monitored by the Cricket South Africa medical team

With PBKS out of the playoffs, Rabada was allowed to return to South Africa to meet with an expert. According to a CSA statement, he is being “closely monitored by the medical team” in preparation for the World Cup.

“The 28-year-old consulted a specialist on arrival in South Africa and is being closely monitored by the Cricket South Africa medical team. His preparation for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA is not expected to be affected,” said Cricket South Africa (CSA) in a statement.

During the pre-match press conference in Guwahati on Tuesday, PBKS’ assistant coach Brad Haddin confirmed that Kagiso Rabada has been ruled out of the remainder of IPL 2024.

“Yeah, there will be (changes to the Playing XI). We know Rabada’s gone home injured, so we’ve got to find a replacement. Liam Livingstone has also been called back by the ECB. There’ll be a change there also. We’ll meet later tonight to finalize the 11 or 12 that we’ll go in with. Tomorrow’s game is about going out there and expressing oneself. We are out of the tournament, which is disappointing, but it’s still another opportunity for the younger guys and the team to develop,” Brad Haddin said ahead of the PBKS-RR game.

CSA currently has targets for the national team that require them to field, on average throughout a season, six players of color in every XI, of which at least two must be black African. So Rabada will have to play every game to ensure they do not fall too far behind the overall target.

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