Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced a well-balanced dynamic 15-member squad, under the leadership of Aiden Markram, for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Former SA captain AB de Villiers, who retired in 2018, spoke about the racial system in choosing the playing XI.
It’s been quite a hard rule on the Proteas side, where they got to include six players of colour in South Africa playing eleven, while two would be from the black African community as the policy was introduced in 2016.
Quite a devise topic this is to take centre stage that on many occasions, the South Africa captains have found themselves in a tough position in selecting the playing eleven.
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‘Sometimes these put you under a bit of pressure…’ – AB de Villiers
The former Protea captain AB de Villiers was under the scanner when his team selection was hampered because of the racial quota during the semifinal of the 2015 ODI World Cup at Eden Park against New Zealand, as they went on to accept defeat in the fixture.
“It’s a shame going into a tournament to have the focus on that. I mean it’s nothing new, it’s just a shame,” AB de Villiers lamented during an interaction with the PTI facilitated by the ‘Jio Cinema’. “Luckily this time around, I’ve had nothing to do with anything over there. I’m just a spectator.”
The cause of the outrage is because of the presence of only one black player among the 15 members of the South Africa side in the T20 World Cup 2024, and that’s Kagiso Rabada, who anyway will be a key member of the side.
The national team is set to miss this target, unless, at the eleventh hour, they somehow find a way to add Lungi Ngidi from the travelling reserves, who another black-African, flying with the team to the Caribbean and the USA.
The other players of the colour system include Reeza Hendricks, Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi and Ottniel Baartman.
“There are controversial moments back home as per usual with the South African squad just before a World Cup. I think it’s a good team.” The dynamic batter is expressed in the same function. “It’s a shame about Lungi (Ngidi) lost a bit of form, had a couple of injuries. Otherwise, he most probably would have been in the squad and there wouldn’t have been any controversial stuff back home.”
At the present situation, the team is without any committee of coaches and it’s their coaches- Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter who have picked the squad.
“Sometimes these things happen and it puts you under a bit of pressure as a selection panel and as a coach and a captain,” the 40-year-old, AB de Villiers commented. “From what I remember is with the quota system, it’s an average team, an average number over the season and they don’t really look at every series, but as journalists sometimes enjoy steaming up things a bit.”
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AB de Villiers was little more emphatic towards those who made the choice and said that he doesn’t observe any issues in the process.
‘Maybe they are short. Maybe they are well within their right to do whatever they were needed to do in this World Cup.’ Ab de Villiers put the context. ‘Keeping in mind there were a couple of injuries, a couple of out of form players. It’s never easy.’
South Africa will start their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Sri Lanka on June 03, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York.