3 reasons why banning Kagiso Rababa is an inappropriate decision

South Africa's Kagiso Rabada, the man who took 11 wickets in the second game to demolish Australia twice, was banned for the rest of the Test series after being found guilty of deliberately making contact with the tourists' captain Steve Smith.

Fast bowler Rabada brushed shoulders with Smith after celebrating his dismissal during South Africa's six-wicket victory in the second Test. It took the 22-year-old to eight demerit points in a 24-month period, resulting in a two-Test ban. The International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected Rabada's claim that the contact with Smith was accidental.

The four-match series is level at 1-1, with the third Test starting on 22 March in Cape Town. Rabada was fined 50% of his match fee for the incident with Smith.

Here are the reasons why the ban was unfair on the bowler.

---

#1 Double standards on ICC's behalf

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has questioned the ICC's demerit system

The ICC's demerit system was put in place in September 2016 in an effort to improve player behavior. For the record, both the incidents involving Rabada and David Warner have been labeled level two charges, with both players coughing up 'hefty fines' and earning three demerit points each. The problem is that the Aussie vice-captain is still playing and has escaped from a ban.

"For me, if you look at those incidents, one is brushing of the shirt, (while) the other is a lot more aggressive. My question was: why are both these incidents labeled the same? For me, they are not," South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis lamented.

"The contact [between Rabada and Smith] was very minimal. It was a shirt flick of two players and you would get one or two demerit points as a slap on the wrist because it wasn't full body contact. But that's where I'm sitting as a player, not as an official."

Rabada's ban also sends a wrong signal to the bowlers, especially to those who aspire to take wickets to floor the opponents and not just check the flow of runs as is the trend in the limited-over formats.

Cricket pundits in South Africa have alleged that players like Warner or Indian captain Virat Kohli hardly come under the scanner for their on-field aggression. This angle to the story can’t really be brushed aside. India, Australia and England are the biggest revenue earners for the ICC and it is not easy for the latter to punish players from these teams as easily as it can do to the rest.

Australians have held the title of world champions in sledging as a badge of honor and when Warner vows to maintain an aggressive stance in the field, then they shouldn't whine when Rabada is all pumped up and celebrating after taking a scalp.

Match Referee Jeff Crowe had made it clear he didn't want to suspend Australia's vice-captain and that shaped his final punishment. The match referee had explained that he didn't ban Warner as there are bigger things at play, so he didn't make it a level three offense because it is a series between two big teams.

If that's the case then the same purview should have been applied for Rabada as well.

#2 A case of double jeopardy

Is Rabada being punished for the same offense twice?

If Rabada had already faced a match ban last year with four demerit points, then why does he face a two-match ban again with eight demerit points? Does that mean four of those eight negative points were taken into consideration twice?

According to the rule-book, these demerit points, which were introduced to improve player behavior, remain in play till a period of 24 months so that players do not commit offenses deliberately to ensure that they get banned for less important games. But it seems quite excessive to punish a player for same ‘offense’ twice.

The counter-view to this rigid regime is why turn cricket into robotics? Test cricket is already going through a rough patch so it would be a travesty to detach the element of human emotions from the game.

The South African captain Faf Du Plessis has also echoed this view.

"People talk about where is the future of Test cricket. This, for me, is an important part of Test cricket - the battles that you face. That is KG [Rabada] running in for 15 overs trying to get someone out and eventually when he gets him out, he has to show that passion. Otherwise, you could just put a bowling machine and a robot to bat," said Du Plessis.

#3 Ruining an ongoing classic series

The series is poised at 1-1 after South Africa's victory in Port Elizabeth

The four-match series is excitingly poised level at 1-1, with the third Test starting on 22 March in Cape Town. Australia haven't lost a Test series in South Africa for almost five decades now and the stakes are too high for both teams to prevail over the opponents in this series as well.

At the time when Rabada was handed over the ban, he was ranked as the No.1 bowler in Tests by the ICC. Rabada has regained the top spot in bowlers' rankings and also crossed the 900-point mark after picking up 11 wickets in the match against Australia in Port Elizabeth.

The ongoing series between South Africa and Australia, though enticing hasn't attracted many viewers to the ground. Moribund Test cricket today requires a superior bowling standard and when a young and exciting fast bowler is giving his all for the team, banning him is similar to giving a heavy blow to the game itself.