Rickelton does a KL Rahul as he hopes SA remember him

Ryan Rickelton hopes his second century at the SA20 will serve as a reminder of what he is capable of after he was left out of South Africa's 2026 T20 World Cup squad.

Rickelton smashed 113* off 60 balls for MI Cape Town against Joburg Super Kings as MICT won a second successive game and moved off the bottom of the points table.

His hundred came at his domestic home ground, the Wanderers, and in celebration, Rickelton drew on KL Rahul, who thumped his chest and gestured to the turf after scoring the winning runs for Delhi Capitals against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in last year's IPL.

For context, Rahul too was part of the opposition team that night, but he was at a ground where he had grown up playing cricket - the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Rickelton wanted to indicate the same when he slammed his bat into the Wanderers turf, then acknowledged his MICT badge and raised his arms aloft. Later, he revealed it was pre-planned.

"I was actually thinking about celebrations recently. I saw KL Rahul do it in the IPL, probably when he was in between teams and just letting everyone know that he's there. I don't know why that was at the top of my mind, but it just came out the way it did," he said in a broadcast interview post-match. "I suppose maybe I thought about it going into the game or maybe these last couple of weeks, so it probably was an emotional outburst at the time. It was just the one at the front of my mind. I remember KL's celebration quite vividly."

Like Rahul, who has been dropped from India's T20I side, Rickelton has been sidelined by South Africa, partly because of Quinton de Kock's return and partly because of his own struggling form.

Rickelton scored one T20I half-century in five innings on South Africa's tours of Australia and England - and that knock came in a losing cause - but was dropped for the subcontinent series in Pakistan and India. He also battled in ODIs, where he top-scored with 35 in eight innings across the away tours and recorded successive ducks in India.

Rickelton has admitted he found the India trip particularly challenging and, before the World Cup squad was announced, said he was "at peace" if he didn't make it. He stuck to that line at the post-match press conference.

"In India, a couple of months ago, I didn't know if I was coming or going at that stage. I wasn't sure just what I was trying to do," Rickelton said. "It's such a big mental game and trying to work out my own game around that is probably the most difficult thing. I felt in India I was actually batting quite nicely, I just didn't have anything to return for it."

Since coming home, Rickelton has enjoyed success with MICT at the SA20. He scored a century in the opener at Newlands and is leading the run-charts in this edition of the tournament.

"You come back, experience your family and friends around you, and actually get to enjoy South Africa and being home. It can change the mental state, I suppose," Rickelton said. "When you jump from team to team, it gives you a new opportunity, a new perspective and I've had that when I come to this team.

"It's probably the team that gets the best out of me, frees me up in the way I want to play, and it takes me to probably the level I want to operate at 90% of the time. I just enjoy playing for this team. I enjoy the group of players we've got. I enjoy the life we have in Cape Town as well. What's not to love?"

And so Rickelton said he is "over it already," when asked if he had a point to prove after missing out on the T20 World Cup squad and has reconciled that he will spend the next few months at home.

"I'm here to play my cricket, here to win games for this team, and after this I'll fall back with the Lions. I'm there to go win the four-day competition for the Lions. I'm pretty chilled with it," he said. "I just want to find my rhythm with my batting and find and win games for this team. That's probably the most important thing for me right now."

But if he keeps going like this, the noise will only get louder, particularly as there are questions over the top-order batters South Africa have picked. While selection convener Patrick Moroney insisted Rickelton was only competing against de Kock, coach Shukri Conrad had earlier said there was room for both left-handed wicket-keeper-batters in the squad.

That means Rickelton was also being weighed up against Aiden Markram (who will play as captain despite struggling form) and Tony de Zorzi, who currently has a hamstring injury. De Zorzi is not playing in the SA20 but will have to prove his fitness in South Africa's home matches against West Indies later this month.

De Zorzi has only played two T20Is for South Africa and has a domestic T20 strike rate of 119.26 compared to Rickelton's 144.08. If fit, de Zorzi is expected to be considered at No. 3 for the T20 World Cup.