Former Springbok lock Bakkies Botha has joked that he is available to take Kagiso Rabada’s place in the Proteas team for the third Test against Australia at Newlands.
Rabada is appealing the ICC decision to suspend him for two matches after he made contact with Australia captain Steve Smith and was given three demerit points following the second Test at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.
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Referencing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s now famous ‘send me’ speech, Botha tweeted: ‘I wanna lend a hand. I wanna be there for KG’s (sic). SEND ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
Rabada will make his case against the two-match suspension on Monday, with Advocate Dali Mpofu SC representing him.
The 22-year-old picked up four demerit points in total in PE, but is attempting to be cleared of three of those points, which he picked up when he made contact with Smith. Rabada went into the fixture on five demerit points and reached the threshold of eight, which equates to a two-Test ban.
I wanna lend a hand
I wanna be there for KG’sSEND ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Proud ???????????????????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/G8Jh9uPZwi— Bakkies Botha (@BakkiesBotha4) March 17, 2018
Photo: Philip Brown/Getty Images