NEW DELHI : South African pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada is suffering from a stiff back. That has led to headaches for his IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, as they head to the business end of the tournament. It’s an even bigger worry for his national team, given that the World Cup coming up in England is less than a month away.Rabada was not risked in Delhi’s last game against Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday, which they lost by 80 runs. This was the first match that the pacer did not play this season. Post the loss, skipper Shreyas Iyer had said that omitting the pacer was a precautionary move.
Scans have been conducted on the 23-year-old after he complained of the problem. And the test results have been sent to Cricket South Africa (CSA). “The medical team are aware of the extent of his back problem. They are monitoring him currently. We are obviously in touch with CSA. We have sent the results to them. They will let us know about their opinion after which we will decide our future course of action,” a team official told this daily on Thursday.
With this being a World Cup year, physios of all national teams are monitoring their respective players’ workload in the IPL and are in constant touch with their counterparts across the eight franchisees. If the CSA deems the injury serious, they can ask Delhi to not risk Rabada any further which will be a huge blow for Ricky Ponting’s team. Rabada’s injury can be a big blow for the South Africans, as it comes days after veteran speedster Dale Steyn pulled out of the IPL after playing only two games for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Injury clouds over two of their most trusted bowlers will not be what the team wants in the run-up to the big event, which they have never managed to win.
Rabada is no stranger to back-related problems, as he was forced to miss the IPL last year with a lower back injury. He is the current Purple Cap holder, having taken 25 wickets in 12 games at an average of 14.72. His yorkers in particular have drawn the attention of experts and fans, with batsmen struggling to protect either their toes or stumps. That Delhi have made the knockout stages for the first time since 2012 has got a lot to do with the wickets taken by Rabada.