Ab De Villiers on Kagiso Rabada I ab de Villiers says i have never wanted kagiso rabada dropped from any team at any time

Johannesburg: Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has denied the allegation against him. AB de Villiers is accused of trying to drop Kagiso Rabada from the national team early in his career. De Villiers was the captain of the team when the fast bowlers came forward.

He said that his advice was given in the interest of the team. De Villiers’ statement comes after former Proteas selector Hussain Manack testified at the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Social Justice and Nation-building (SJN) hearing.

Manack has accused AB de Villiers of taking decisions on the basis of racism. Responding to these allegations, de Villiers praised Rabada and termed him as one of the finest fast bowlers in world cricket.

AB de Villiers denies the allegations

AB de Villiers was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo, ‘I have never wanted to drop Kagiso Rabada from any other team. This idea itself is stupid. He is one of the best bowlers in the world. Manack had said about de Villiers that he had a full role in the Khaya Zondo case. Manack said that Zondo did not get a chance to play a single match during the 2015 tour of India. However, Rabada’s controversy over the 2015-16 Wanderers had not previously gone public.

Manack said, “I was in the practice session the day before and had to decide between Kyle Abbott or Hardus Villijoen. There was a conversation during practice and the team management said that we should get Rabada out. I asked on what basis? Rabada was 20 years old and had not established himself as a great player. He had a good image. The reason given in cricket is that maybe the ball is not coming out of his hand properly.

After 6 years of debut, Rabada has established himself in all three formats. The fast bowler has taken 213, 122 and 96 wickets in 47 Tests, 79 ODIs and 32 T20 Internationals respectively. Rabada has scored more than 1,000 runs in his international career for South Africa.