After a one-month suspension for recreational drug use, Kagiso Rabada has rejoined the Gujarat Titans for the 2025 IPL.
The pacer flew home after playing two games in the league, with his return attributed to “personal reasons”. It later emerged that Rabada had tested positive for the use of recreational drugs and was serving a month’s ban for the same. The positive result was conveyed to him on April 1, 2025, which led to an immediate provisional suspension.
After serving the one-month ban, Rabada is now available for selection in the remainder of the IPL. However, he did not play Tuesday’s game against the Mumbai Indians, with skipper Shubman Gill stating he needed a few practice sessions to “get back into his groove”. Rabada will also be available for the World Test Championship final, scheduled next month at Lord’s against Australia.
Why was Rabada given a one-month ban?
In 2021, the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) recognised that some banned substances are frequently abused in society outside of sport. They grouped these substances in the Substance of Abuse category, which is what Rabada was charged under.
The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) confirmed that Rabada had been tested after the SA20 match on January 21, with the positive result being conveyed to him on April 1.
While the specific substance he used was not disclosed, the SAIDS identifies cocaine, heroin, MDMA, and THC as substances of abuse.
According to the sanctions for Substance of Abuse, presented in Article 10.2.4.1 of the SAIDS Code, “If the Athlete can establish that any ingestion or use occurred out-of-competition and was unrelated to sport performance, then the period of ineligibility shall be three (3) months. In addition, the period of ineligibility calculated may be reduced to one (1) month if the athlete or other person satisfactorily completes a Substance of Abuse treatment program approved by SAIDS.”
If the ingestion occurred in competition, but the athlete can prove it was unrelated to boosting sports performance, then it will not be considered intentional, and will avoid a four-year ban on the player.
Rabada’s test was taken “in-competition”, a window which began at 11.59 pm on the day before the SA20 began on January 10. However, it is not yet confirmed whether Rabada ingested Substances of Abuse during the competition or before the SA20. Several recreational drugs can stay in the body for over 90 days, with urine tests detecting them up to 30 days and hair follicular testing detecting them up to 90 days.
According to the above clause, Rabada most likely ingested the Substances of Abuse out-of-competition, which earned him a three-month ban. However, he completed an education and awareness programme, which reduced his term of suspension to one month.
Former WADA director-general David Howman applauded the "pragmatism" shown in Rabada's case. Talkiing to The Sydney Morning Herald, he said: "This outcome now has fallen under the pragmatism category, where WADA has accepted that it’s a player welfare issue and some of these things – because they are so prevalent in society – are going to be in sport, and you’ve got to look at each case on an individual basis. The outcome that was reached in the Rabada case was pretty sensible."
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