Kagiso Rabada left out of South Africa’s first Test against Australia

South Africa have left Kagiso Rabada out of their first Test against Australia, which begins at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday, October 9. Captain Temba Bavuma named the XI on Thursday and said the fast bowler would continue recovering from a hamstring injury, Reuters reported. The decision settles his availability for the series opener after Bavuma had said earlier in the week that a fitness decision was still pending.

Rabada trained with the squad at Kingsmead on Thursday and had been in contention for selection as he worked back to fitness, according to Reuters. His omission comes in the first match of a three-Test home series, with South Africa selecting Anrich Nortje alongside Marco Jansen in an attack that also includes specialist spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer.

Why Rabada is missing the Durban Test

Reuters said Rabada was left out to continue his recovery from a hamstring injury. Its account placed the injury in June. An IOL Sport interview published on October 7 described an injury the previous month, so the available reports differ on its timing. Neither report establishes when Rabada will be ready to play again. His absence from Friday’s XI confirms only that he will miss the first Test.

The selection follows several days in which his availability remained open. Speaking to IOL Sport at a team sponsor event in Durban on Tuesday, Bavuma said Rabada was still under the medical team’s care. ‘They would need to ordinarily hand him over,’ he said, adding that the squad still had practices before Friday. IOL reported at the time that a decision on his match readiness was expected on Friday morning.

IOL reported that Rabada had not played competitive cricket since the Indian Premier League in May. It said batting coach Ashwell Prince reported that Rabada came through a two-day warm-up match over the preceding weekend unscathed. That outing and Thursday’s training session did not lead to his selection for the first Test, according to the side subsequently named by Bavuma.

South Africa’s XI against Australia at Kingsmead

The XI reported by Reuters is Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, David Bedingham, Bavuma as captain, Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne as wicketkeeper, Jansen, Maharaj, Harmer and Nortje. Harmer and Maharaj give South Africa two specialist spin options in the same side. Nortje is set for his first first-class match in almost four years, Reuters said.

Nortje’s place had been a possibility before the final selection. IOL said he could play his first Test since March 2023 and listed Gerald Coetzee, Jansen, Corbin Bosch and Dane Paterson among the pace options available in the wider squad. The named XI establishes which of those players will start in Durban; the reports do not establish whether Rabada will be considered for either later match.

How the preliminary squad led to Thursday’s selection

Rabada was included in the 18-player preliminary squad announced in late September despite already being sidelined with a hamstring problem, according to a Reuters report carried by SABC News. Nortje, Harmer and Maharaj were also in that squad. Coach Shukri Conrad said the preliminary selection allowed an extended build-up, with the group due to assemble in Durban on October 1.

That preliminary squad had already lost other pace options. The SABC report said Ottneil Baartman, Kwena Maphaka and Lungi Ngidi were ruled out with hamstring problems. Thursday’s XI provides the firmer picture for the opener: Rabada is absent, Nortje and Jansen are named, and Harmer joins Maharaj as a specialist spinner.

The Durban match is scheduled for October 9–13. The remaining Tests are scheduled for October 18–22 in Gqeberha and October 27–31 in Cape Town, according to SABC’s series schedule. No return date for Rabada is established by the reports available at the time of Thursday’s announcement. For now, Bavuma’s named side answers the immediate selection question for Kingsmead.