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Key Takeaways
- 1📊 Rickelton smashed 113* off 60 balls for MI Cape Town
- 2🏆 Second SA20 century this season after World Cup snub
- 3💡 KL Rahul-style celebration underlined his emotional response
- 4🔮 Continued SA20 form could force Proteas rethink before 2026
""It probably was an emotional outburst," says South Africa batter who has been dropped from the squad for the T20 World Cup"
Ryan Rickelton has done a very KL Rahul thing – answer a selection snub with a cold-blooded T20 masterclass. Left out of South Africa’s 2026 T20 World Cup squad, he smashed a brutal 113 off 60 balls* for MI Cape Town, and let his bat do all the talking.
World Cup snub, SA20 statement
This was Rickelton’s second SA20 century of the season, a knock that powered MI Cape Town to a towering 234/3 and a 36-run win over Joburg Super Kings. Opening the innings, he went through the gears beautifully – fifty off 28, then absolute carnage at the death with a flurry of sixes and clean strikes down the ground.
The KL Rahul reference wasn’t accidental either. After reaching three figures, Rickelton celebrated with the now-famous “Kantara” style gesture that Rahul made popular, a pointed reminder to the selectors that big-match temperament doesn’t always fit neatly into a squad list.
"It probably was an emotional outburst," — Ryan Rickelton on his celebration after being left out of the World Cup squad
With Quinton de Kock back and others preferred ahead of him, Rickelton has every right to feel hard done by. But just like Indian fans have seen with KL over the years, the best answer is weight of runs. Right now, in SA20 2025-26, Rickelton is not just knocking on the door – he’s trying to break it down. If he keeps going like this, the Proteas brains trust simply cannot ignore him for much longer.
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