Kagiso Rabada waved goodbye to 15% of his match fee for his gesture after dismissing Shikhar Dhawan in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth.
The Proteas bowler was ecstatic after having Dhawan caught on the boundary on 30, while opening the innings. He aggressively waved goodbye to the hapless batsman and, in the words of the ICC, ‘made a comment which could have resulted in a reaction from the batsman’.
The bowler avoided a disciplinary hearing by admitting the error of his ways, for which he was fined 15% of his match fee and given another demerit point.
He already had four on his record, having received three demerit points against Sri Lanka in an ODI in February last year, and one demerit point during the Lord’s Test against England on 7 July 2017.
On the first occasion, Rabada was fined 50% of his match fees when he and Niroshan Dickwella made contact with each other at the non-striker’s end after the batsman had completed a single, with the action being judged to have been avoidable.
The usually placid quick bowler was also suspended from the second Test against England last year after picking up the fourth demerit point for using abusive language towards Ben Stokes at Lord’s. The four demerit points automatically triggered a suspension.
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.
In case you missed it, here is Rabada’s send off. Do you agree with this sort of behavior in cricket, is it just good fight and spirit? Or is it brash behavior that should be ironed out. I’m intrigued to hear your opinions. #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/Pww3Ar0qpT
— Arjun Bhardwaj (@ArjunB_74) February 13, 2018