South Africa pacers Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala will go through a fitness test to see if they can participate in the ODI World Cup in India. They were included in South Africa’s initial 15-person squad for the competition, but they only participated in one game each of the five ODIs against Australia, which put a question mark on their participation in the marquee event.
South Africa would suffer a severe setback if Anrich Nortje is unable to recover from the injury before the ODI World Cup as he is one of the fastest bowlers in World Cricket and has much experience playing in Indian conditions.
Meanwhile, Sisanda Magala had not played any cricket since tearing the webbing in his hand at the IPL and returned to the team during the third one-day international against Australia, bowling four overs before being ruled out of the final two games against Australia.
Speaking to the media, South Africa coach Rob Walter revealed that the team is keeping an eye on the fitness of the two players before the ODI World Cup in India and indicated that Andile Phehlukwayo is very much in the line to be part of the squad for the mega event in India if anyone fails to recover on time.
“We are continually taking stock as to where both of those players are, The fact that they weren’t playing today with a week to go before we board the plane for the World Cup is obviously a cause for concern. We would have wanted them out there.
“There are complications around taking players that are injured into a World Cup because then you have to provide a medical reason to be swapped out.”
“Andile is one of a couple of guys who are part of a broader squad and today he showed us, especially with the bat, what we have seen in terms of his capability,” Rob Walter said.
South Africa is expected to call up Andile Phehlukwayo in the event that either Nortje or Magala are ruled out of the World Cup. He has returned to the team for the Australia ODI series despite having lost his national contract earlier this year.
South Africa will begin their quest for their first-ever World Cup title on October 7 against Sri Lanka in Delhi and they have got experienced players in their lineup, who can challenge a high-quality side in the mega event in India.
