Kagiso Rabada has been slapped with a fine of 15 percent of his match fee and also handed a demerit point after he was found guilty of making inappropriate comments and gestures in the fifth ODI against India at Port Elizabeth.
Rabada was found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel during Tuesday’s ODI.
Tuesday’s incident happened in the eighth over of India’s innings when Rabada, after dismissing Shikhar Dhawan, waved at the departing batsman and also made a comment which could have resulted in a reaction from the batsman.
As such, he was charged by the on-field umpires Ian Gould and Shaun George, third umpire Aleem Dar and fourth umpire Bongani Jele under article 2.1.7, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an International Match”.
Rabada admitted the offence and accepted the penalty proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft.
The 22-year-old now has five demerit points on his disciplinary record. He received demerit points against Sri Lanka in an ODI on 8 February 2017 and one demerit point during the Lord’s Test against England on 7 July 2017.
Rabada was subsequently suspended from the Trent Bridge Test against England after his accumulated demerit points reached four following the Lord’s breach.
If Rabada reaches the next threshold of eight or more demerit points within a 24-month period, he will be suspended again from either two Tests; one Test and two ODIs/T20Is; or four ODIs/T20Is, whichever comes first for the player.