Recreational drug in Rabada case was cocaine

The recreational drug which resulted in South Africa seamer Kagiso Rabada's one-month suspension from cricket has been confirmed as cocaine by the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS). The organisation, which is a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), publishes the findings of adverse drug tests a month after the appeal period for sanctioned athletes lapses.

SAIDS published its findings today, June 3, which confirmed the presence of Benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in Rabada's results. Benzoylecgonine is formed in the liver after the ingestion of cocaine, and is excreted in urine.

Rabada was tested on January 21, during the SA20. He played in the entirety of that competition, for MI Cape Town, and for South Africa at the Champions Trophy before his results were known. He was informed of his positive test in late March, and served a one-month ban between April 1 and May 1, which kept him out of a significant part of the IPL, though his absence from the tournament was put down to personal reasons.

The duration of Rabada's sanction was determined by the nature of the drug (recreational and not performance enhancing), his commitment to an educational program, and that he ingested the substance on a non-match day, which is classified as out of competition. All that reduced his ban to one month. Rabada did not appeal against the one-month ban.

On May 3, Rabada issued a statement through the South African Cricketers Association, in which he admitted use of a recreational drug but did not provide any further details. By then, he had already served his sanction and returned to the IPL, where he played two matches for Gujarat Titans before joining up with the South African squad for the World Test Championship final. Rabada has received support from CSA, national coach Shukri Conrad, and captain Temba Bavuma, who all said they had drawn a line under the issue.

Last Friday, when South Africa left for the United Kingdom, Rabada made his first public statement since serving his ban and said he would not be seen as "Mr I apologise" but would discuss it in more detail with his team-mates.

Rabada also anticipates a backlash from Australia, whose former captain Tim Paine has already criticised the secrecy around Rabada returning to South Africa from the IPL in early April. Rabada indicated he was ready for whatever they throw at him. "They come at you, and I think that gets the best out of me - and they have been notorious for that over the years, right? So yeah, let's see."