South Africa announce their 15 member squad for the upcoming 2015 Cricket World Cup. AB de Villiers has been named the skipper of the squad that will chase its first World Cup triumph if few weeks time. Exclusion of Ryan McLaren is the only surprise in the side.
Wicket-Keeper Quinton de Kock has been chosen in the squad inspite of his ankle ligament tear. The ICC allows teams to name injured players in their squad and has made provision for them to be replaced should they fail to recover or exacerbate the injury during the tournament, if a medical certificate is provided. If de Kock fails to recover in time for the World Cup, Morne Van Wyk will be called as a replacement.
The selectors also chose batsman JP Duminy, who is yet to make a comeback from his injury. The 15 member South African squad has 8 batsmen, five pacers and two spinners with Farhaan Behardien expected to play the role of an All-Rounder. The South African selectors also decided to go in with Kyle Abbott as the fifth pacer ahead of Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Rilee Roussouw also made it to the final 15.
The Squad: AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, David Miller, Aaron Phangiso, Farhaan Behardien, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Rilee Rossouw, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott.
Playing XI: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir.