The Proteas team is concerned about the right hamstring injury sustained by Kagiso Rabada as they approach a busy domestic international summer. Rabada, who is 31 years old, has not played cricket since the conclusion of the IPL season, where he was the leading run-scorer, helping Gujarat Titans reach the final at the end of May.
He decided to take a break from MLC and The Hundred matches to maintain fitness for the season in which Proteas will play eight Test matches as part of the World Test Championship defense against Australia, Bangladesh, and England, in addition to their commitments in baseball formats.
Rabada was recently spotted training in nets during a practice session at South African College Schools (SACS) in Cape Town, but Cricket SA issued a statement that the fast bowler suffered a hamstring injury during the winter training program.
Further examinations will be conducted, and a home ODI tournament against Australia is scheduled for next month. Proteas coach Shukri Conrad regularly communicated with Rabada during the off-season and recently noted: 'KG is in excellent form. He is very confident. Physically, he is probably in the best shape of his career, and mentally he is in a very good state.' He added that 'he cannot wait for summer, so it is great to have our leading fast bowler in this condition and mental state.'
The Proteas international season will begin next week in Namibia, where they will face the hosts and neighbors South Africa's Zimbabwe in a triangular T20I tournament, followed by a three-match ODI series against Namibia.
Rabada, who has not played red-ball matches since the series against Pakistan in October last year after missing a successful series against India due to a rib injury, along with several regular Proteas players, were not included in the squad for the tour to Namibia.
Another issue for Proteas is the injury to all-rounder Senurana Mutusami. The left-arm spinner was excluded from the first 'Test' between the South African 'A' and Bangladesh 'A' teams, which began on Sunday, due to a lower back spasm.
For Mutusami, this was a bitter pill after he confirmed to IOL Sport last week that he had just recovered from a knee injury sustained in the winter, which prevented him from playing in the English County Championship for Kent.