South Africa to Take Late Call on Kagiso Rabada’s Fitness for 1st Test vs Australia

Decision Deferred: South Africa will make a final decision on fast bowler Kagiso Rabada's participation in the series opener against Australia "as late as possible" before the match begins on Friday, October 9. Recovery Progress: Rabada has been recovering from a hamstring injury suffered during winter training, which previously ruled him out of last month's ODI series.

He hasn't played competitive cricket since IPL 2026 in May. Encouraging Sign: The 31-year-old paceman featured in a two-day intra-squad practice match in Durban, with batting coach Ashwell Prince confirming that Rabada "came through quite nicely and bowled really well".

"He's obviously played really well in that position (No. 3) as well, and can bat in that position. We have a very good idea of who's going to slot in there," Prince said. "I've always been a fan of his. And to his credit, he's done what any player who wants to play Test cricket needs to do: bang the door down by weight of runs. He's an attacking player. He likes to move the game along. He's played very well, he's got a lot of experience and there's an appetite, not just for him but for a lot of players within our domestic structures to want to be involved in the Test squad."

The Australia Tests will be South Africa's first at home since winning the World Test Championship title last June, against Australia at Lord's. They are currently second on the 2025-2027 WTC points table with 10 more Tests to play in the ongoing cycle - eight at home between now and January, as well as two away in Sri Lanka.

Expanded Squad Retained: South Africa originally planned to cut their preliminary 18-player squad down to 15, but opted to retain the expanded setup to maintain fast-bowling depth and workload cover. Broader Injury Crisis: The Proteas' pace attack is severely depleted by a wave of hamstring injuries that have already ruled out Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka, and Ottniel Baartman for the Durban opener.