Pacer Kagiso Rabada has been rested and will not play in the upcoming ODI series against India, Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed on Tuesday, hours before the first match in Paarl.
The board said no replacement will be brought in for Rabada as there is an extended squad in place in the Bio-Secure Environment (BSE), but selectors have also added more cover in the allrounders department, in the form of left-arm spinner George Linde.
Linde was part of the Test squad against India and has now been drafted in for the ODIs.
"Proteas seam bowler, Kagiso Rabada, has been released from the team for the Betway One-Day International (ODI) series against India due to high workloads over a sustained period of time and the need for him to recover prior to the outbound Test series against New Zealand next month," Cricket South Africa (CSA) said in a statement.
"No replacement will be brought in for [Rabada] as there is an extended squad in place in the Bio-Secure Environment (BSE), but George Linde has been retained from the Test team as an extra spin-bowling option for the series," it added.
Rabada has been playing in bio-secure bubbles since early September, taking part in three ODIs and three T20Is on South Africa's tour of Sri Lanka, the second half of IPL 2021 in the UAE, T20 World Cup. There was a break of a month and a half following the global tournament, then South Africa's Tests against India kicked off on Boxing Day.
In absence of premier Proteas bowler, Marco Jansen is likely to make an ODI debut against India, barely a month after earning his first Test cap.
Lungi Ngidi will lead the attack with the death-bowling skills of Sisanda Magala also likely to be called on while the likes of Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, and Andile Phehlukwayo will give seam-bowling allrounder options.
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