One of the reasons behind South Africa picking a second-string ODI side for their United Arab Emirates (UAE) trip against Afghanistan and Ireland was their aim to do well and give enough rest of their players who will be involved in their upcoming two-match Test series in Bangladesh, which will be vital in an aspect of the World Test Championship (WTC) table.
However, the current conditions in Bangladesh haven’t been satisfying as the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup has already been moved outside the country and will take place in Dubai and Sharjah. This has increased concerns among the administration of Cricket South Africa (CSA), which is expected to decide on its trip by the end of this week.
The Future Tours Programme confirms that the series will start on October 21. Still, the willingness of the Temba Bavuma-led side depends only on the security reports, which are being monitored currently.
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The CSA sources have told ESPNcricinfo that according to their information, the situation in Bangladesh has been settled down, and they are hopeful of being able to make the tour, which will be important for their WTC. They, however, have highlighted that any risk in travel won’t push them going for the series.
The decision will be made collectively by the board and the players, which means it’s unlikely that Cricket South Africa would leave the decision to the individual to make whether they are comfortable with traveling to Bangladesh.
The Rainbow Nation has six red-ball games left in the third and ongoing cycle of the Test championship, as they have already taken part in six affairs, winning two and losing three, besides drawing one game, to find themselves in the seventh position in the points table. Apart from these games in Bangladesh, they will host Pakistan and Sri Lanka for four red-ball games and aim to win at least five of the remaining six Tests to have a chance of qualifying for the final of the tournament next year at Lord’s.
The games have already been compressed that South Africa has started to prioritize the launch of SA20, their domestic T20 franchise competition, and cost-cutting, which is also the reason why they sent a second sting red-ball side to New Zealand in the beginning of 2023 to make the energy and entertainment intact in the SA20 league.
There is still no planning of playing Bangladesh outside their country, even though all the grounds will be busy because of the Women’s T20 World Cup, while Abu Dhabi would be quite tired by then, having already hosted five white-ball games by then.
Even if they do travel to Bangladesh, South Africa will be without their left-arm pace all-rounder Marco Jansen and the expressive pacer Gerald Coetzee, both of whom have been recovering from injuries and are expected to return in action by November. Their home summer starts with a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in the last week of November at Durban.