Proteas coach comes out swinging against Kagiso Rabada critics

Rabada served only one month suspension from April 1, having returned a urine sample containing benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, after the SA20 match between MI Cape Town and Durban Super Giants on January 21.

The seemingly lenient sanction for the 29-year-old has drawn criticism from some quarters, but Conrad – who named Rabada in his 15-man squad for the World Test Championship final earlier today – says the rules were followed to the letter.

"So, I've been engaging with KG ever since I've learnt about it. I don't know why it's an elephant in the room, because I'm just thankful that the process that was followed was in line with what the world standards are,” Conrad said.

“So, it's not for me or anybody else to question whether the process that was followed was the legitimate one, it was the legitimate one and he served whatever ban or whatever the consequences were and whatever was laid down by SAIDs and in line with what the World Anti-Doping Associations Authorities prescribed so everything is in line with that and we're comfortable with that."

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The coach went on to say that he had not even thought of leaving Rabada out of his touring party to London, where they’re set to face Australia in the final from June 11, and was just concerned about the well-being of the player.

He also addressed the comments from former Australia test captain Tim Paine, suggesting that he should not be the one to talk having been involved in controversy himself.

"The important thing is that KG is a big player wherever he goes in the world. He's a massive player for us, but not for one minute did I sit worrying about whether he potentially will be available or not,” he added.

“For me, it was more of, whether KG is alright and close ranks around him and ensure that he's in a good space because at the end of the day we care for all our players but he served his sentence and all that I'm interested in now is KG producing performances that we know he's capable of.

“To Tim Paine and everybody else out there, I'd probably say something simple like 'Let he without sin, cast the first stone.’