South Africa’s regular Test captain, Temba Bavuma, has returned for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka, having recovered fully from his elbow injury. The veteran will lead the 14-man side, which also marks the comeback of Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee. Both of them made their international returns through the recent T20I series against India but have yet to play a five-day fixture since last summer.
South Africa has been boosted by the return of their star batter as they chase a spot for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) in the third cycle of 2023-25. Two wins in each series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home will confirm their ticket to Lord’s next year.
Even three victories out of four clashes can make the qualification smooth, based on other results. But the Test coach, Shukri Conrad, of the Proteas, has cleared the importance of Bavuma, who travelling with the team in Abu Dhabi during the ODI series against Ireland in October but has not played any competitive game since then.
“He’s probably going in the cold in the back of not having played any matches, but we’re certainly going to be simulating match situations during our short camp we’re going to have in Pretoria.” The red-ball coach of South Africa addressed the press while announcing the squad.
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Conrad claimed that there had been no issues for the 34-year-old in striking the balls as he underwent an assessment of batting for 90 minutes to determine how sufficiently recovered his elbow had been.
“The concern was the impact of striking the ball and if there was any pain associated with that. That was still the case when we were in Bangladesh, which then ruled him out of the second Test there. So, it included a battery of tests.” Shukri explained.
Ryan Rickelton to make way for Temba Bavuma in batting order of South Africa
Since being named the South Africa Test captain in March 2023, Bavuma has led the side only five out of ten times and will look to extend the glorious record. The side has been decorated with as many fast bowlers available as Kagiso Rabada has returned after spending a break from the T20I series.
The experienced Dane Paterson has also been included, besides recalling both Jansen and Coetzee. Lungi Ngidi has remained unavailable from the series due to a groin injury, while the expressive pacer of South Africa, Anrich Nortje, has opted out of the red-ball games, having returned from lower-back stress fractures.
The Rainbow Nations have included two spinners in Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy, but no place for Dane Piedt, who was part of the last three Test squads for New Zealand, West Indies, and Bangladesh.
Despite doing nothing wrong, Ryan Rickelton seems to be missing the bus to make way for Bavuma in the batting order, while Aiden Markram and Tony de Zorzi will open, followed by Tristan Stubbs at number three. Wiaan Mulder is their lower middle order batter and the pace bowling all-rounder.
“That table is going to be quite a topsy-turvy one over the next couple of months. We all understand the magnitude of it. We also understand that we’ve got to play really good cricket for us to achieve the goal. I think we’re going to run into a very confident Sri Lanka side.” The red-ball coach of South Africa noted their opponents.
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The two-match series starts on November 27 at the Kingsmead, Durban, before the action moves to Gqeberha for the second contest starting December 05.
South Africa Squad For 2 Tests vs Sri Lanka
Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton and Kyle Verreynne