South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has addressed the media for the first time after serving a one-month ban for testing positive for a recreational drug during the SA20 league earlier this year. The ban led to his early exit from the IPL 2025 in March, citing “personal reasons,” before the details came to light.
Now, as he heads to London to join the national team for the World Test Championship final, Rabada acknowledged the importance of having conversations with teammates and confronting any scrutiny that may follow.
Facing Teammates and Moving Forward
Speaking on his relationship with the squad, Rabada emphasized the need to be transparent with those closest to him.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒐𝒘𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 – 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝑰 𝒐𝒘𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅.
While he admitted the situation was far from ideal, Rabada has already reached out to some players and plans to discuss things in more detail when they regroup for the final.
“𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Reflecting on the Incident
Rabada tested positive for a banned recreational drug—possibly cannabis, cocaine, heroin, or ecstasy—as per South Africa’s drug-free sport code. Though he did not reveal the specific drug involved, the positive result came during January’s SA20 tournament.
Following his suspension, Rabada returned to play two more IPL games for Gujarat Titans once the ban was lifted. He chose not to contest the ban, instead opting to return home and handle the matter privately.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 [𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑷𝑳] 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆. 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅.
He credited the support system around him for helping him navigate the situation smoothly and shared that the experience offered a chance for introspection and growth.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇… 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆,” 𝑹𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒅𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Apology and Determination
Though Rabada had already issued a formal statement of apology, he reiterated his regret to those who may have been disappointed, especially fans and close supporters.
“𝑻𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝑰’𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚… 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Still, the fast bowler made it clear that he would not let this define him.
“𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 ‘𝑴𝒓-𝑰-𝑨𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒆’ 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅.
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