Kagiso Rabada refuses to be ‘Mr-I-Apologise’ over drug suspension, says 'life moves on'

Kagiso Rabada refuses to be ‘Mr-I-Apologise’ over drug suspension

South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada opened up about his recent one-month suspension for recreational drug use. He has confirmed that he has discussed the incident as much as possible with his national teammates and is willing to talk about it further if necessary. After serving a one-month suspension in April, Rabada completed an education and awareness program to stop substance usage, according to the South African Institute for Drug Free Sports (SAIDS).

“I think I owe it to them [to talk about what happened] – they’re my team-mates,” said Rabada when questioned about discussing his suspension with the South Africa squad for the World Test Championship (WTC), where they meet Australia in London in the second week of June. “We’ve come from so far, you know, and to my closest people I owe it to them. Look, this is not an ideal situation. I don’t need too many pats on the back here. I’m going to be joining with them again. I’ve already spoken to them and I guess we can do so in more detail when we get together for an extended amount of time,” the pacer added.

The 30-year-old, who played for the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2025 season, made the decision to return home at the end of March in order to complete his suspension and lessen his personal load. He made a comeback in May and played in two more games for the Titans.

“It led me to a bit of introspection about myself, and I took some time away from the game,” he said. “I think the biggest thing I took away from it is having gratitude for playing the game that we love. I’m just glad to be playing again… the process was handled really well,” Rabada continued without providing specifics about the prohibited chemical he had tested positive for during the SA20 tournament in January.

“The decision to come back early [from the IPL] was brilliant, and that’s a decision that I made,” Rabada said. “I could have tried to contest it and whatnot, but coming home was the best option, and I was in good hands. All the parties that were involved made the whole process smooth."

Even though Rabada expressed regret for the circumstances, the South Africa pacer said he wouldn't be very sorry for the incident. “As you would have seen in my statement there are some people who would have been disappointed. And to those people I’m deeply sorry,” Rabada said. “The people closest to me are the ones I felt I let down. But life moves on. I’ll never be ‘Mr-I-Apologise’ too much. But I’ll never condone that action.”