Gujarat Titans break silence on Kagiso Rabada testing positive for recreational drug: ‘There is set of rules…'
After serving a provisional suspension, South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada is allowed to play competitive cricket again. The Proteas speedster is available for Gujarat Titans for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. Ahead of the marquee fixture, Vikram Solanki, Director of Cricket, opened up on Rabada's suspension after testing positive for a recreational drug.
Last week, Rabada confirmed that he returned back to South Africa midway through the IPL 2025 season after testing positive for a recreational drug. The pacer went back after playing just two matches for Gujarat Titans. At that time, the franchise stated that Rabada had gone back due to personal reasons. However, Rabada finally gave clarity last week as he apologised for his actions.
Speaking to reporters at the pre-match press conference, Vikram Solanki confirmed Rabada is available for selection for the match against Mumbai Indians. He also lauded the speedster for being transparent in his statement, which was released last week.
"With Kagiso, as far as tomorrow's match is concerned, the fact is he is now available, given all of the decisions that have been taken and whatever has transpired over the past month or so. Kagiso has expressed regret at an error in judgement. He's made a telling statement," said Solanki.
"He has expressed regret, as I said, but is very much looking forward to getting back to playing the game he loves. He will take his sort of lessons from this, and we're just looking forward to having him back at practice," he added.
Gujarat Titans' Director of Cricket also assured that all protocols and procedures were followed so that the 29-year-old Rabada could train with the Gujarat Titans.
For the uninitiated, Rabada had tested positive for a recreational drug during the SA20 after the match between MI Cape Town and Durban Super Giants.
"As far as procedure and protocol are concerned, everybody that's been involved in this episode, right from Kagiso, his representatives, all matters as far as requirements have been followed to the letter," he said.
"We tried to be mindful of the emotion around Kagiso as well. He's now back, having served the time, a suspension for 30 days and what we're looking for now is for him to just be back doing what he loves, and for him to be doing stuff that we appreciate him doing and that is to be part of the cricket team," he added.
Solanki also provided a peek into Rabada's mindset, saying the Proteas quickly wants the team to keep their focus on cricket as he deals with the ongoing matter.
"It is easy to get distracted and one of the things he's made very clear is that he doesn't want this episode to distract anybody. As far as the team is concerned, he spoke very eloquently about the fact that this is something he's dealing with. It's not a matter as far as the team is concerned. The team will, of course, support it," said Solanki.
"It's our job to support the players we have, whether it be on a matter of form or it is on personal matters like this. He's spent some time understanding how much he actually loves playing this game and the message certainly in the conversations I've had with him is that he doesn't want to take playing this game he loves for granted," Solanki added.
However, when asked whether the one-month suspension was enough, Solanki dismissed the question saying, "The procedure is not laid out by any individual. The procedure is in place regardless of any individual or any certain circumstances. Circumstances were such that this was deemed appropriate. We don't have any sort of control of that. It is the authorities that have control of the sanctions and what exactly the procedure must be."
"There is a set of rules and the rules are in place for a reason. If the rules are in place for a reason, they apply to one person as much as they apply to the next and if the findings are such that it has been deemed appropriate for him to serve a one-month sentence, then that is the right thing to do," he added.
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