Fit-again De Villiers assumes office, uncapped Andile Phehlukwayo gets maiden call-up
Sep 6, 2016 at 4:27 PM
The fit-again South African captain AB De Villiers, who missed the home Test series against New Zealand due to a shoulder injury, has returned to the national squad to lead the team in the home series against Australia and Ireland. Along with him, David Miller who was dropped from the team due to poor form has also made a comeback to the national team riding on his brilliant form in the recently concluded ‘A’ quadrangular series. The selectors have made three surprise selections; they have selected the uncapped Dolphins seamer Andile Phehlukwayo and uncapped Lions all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius, along with them they have handed an ODI call-up to the Test batsman Temba Bavuma.
“Andile was our leading wicket-taker for South Africa A in the recently concluded quadrangular series in Australia, He has been knocking on the door for some time following his strong performances in last season’s Momentum One-Day Cup.
“Both he and Dwaine have shown excellent form recently and the same applies to David Miller. It remains our practice to reward players who do well at the franchise and South Africa A level,” said Linda Zondi, CSA Selection Committee Convener.
The injured Morne Morkel and Rilee Rossouw were not considered for the selection, neither of the two is fit for the competition “Morne Morkel and Rilee Rossouw were not considered for selection as they continue to recover from injury and a lack of match fitness respectively, while AB de Villiers is on track to return from the injury that kept him out of the Test Series against New Zealand,
“Rossouw played two practices matches for the VKB Knights at the weekend when he batted freely but still had issues with his throwing and it will be beneficial for him to start his comeback in the four-day competition which starts early next month,” Zondi said.
Andile Phehlukwayo has been selected for both the ODI series whereas Bavuma and Pretorius will leave the squad after the conclusion of Ireland series.
It will be interesting to see Andile sharing the new ball with Rabada as both of them are young and fit. Fans will be anxious to see the tuning between the two youngsters.
Yesterday, the Australian Board also announced their squad for this series, they have rested deadly duo of Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc and have chosen three uncapped fast bowlers in place of them.
The South African team will face Ireland in Benoni on September 27 before heading to centurion to kick off the Australia series from September 30.
Squad for Ireland ODI – AB de Villiers (c), Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada.
Squad for Australia ODIs – AB de Villiers (c), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn.