Gujarat Titans' Kagiso Rabada Returns to South Africa for Personal Reasons

South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has left the Gujarat Titans squad to return to South Africa due to personal reasons, the IPL team announced on Thursday.

South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has departed the Gujarat Titans squad to return home to South Africa due to personal reasons, according to a statement by the Indian Premier League (IPL) team on Thursday.

Rabada, who had played in Gujarat Titans' first two matches of the IPL 2025 season against Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians, took one wicket in each game, with bowling figures of 1/41 and 1/42 respectively. He was absent from the team's third game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Kagiso Rabada has left the #TATAIPL and has returned home for personal reasons 👇 pic.twitter.com/zBZNtjPoow

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 3, 2025

The Gujarat Titans stated that Rabada had left “to deal with an important personal matter,” without providing further details or specifying a date for his return. In his absence, the team may rely on other bowlers like Gerald Coetzee or Karim Janat to fill the gap.

Kagiso Rabada had participated in the first two matches of the IPL season in Ahmedabad, where he claimed two wickets. However, he was absent from Gujarat's eight-wicket victory in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

According to Gujarat captain Shubman Gill, Rabada's absence from the Bengaluru game was due to personal reasons. Gill's explanation shed light on Rabada's unexpected omission from the team's lineup for that particular match.