Cricket South Africa on Tuesday named upcoming fast bowler Anrich Nortje, wicketkeeper-batsman Rudi Seconds and spin bowling all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy in their Test squad for the three-match series against India in September-October. All three are new caps. (Cricket News)
Nortje also features in the T20 squad that has seen the inclusion of Test batsman Temba Bavuma and spin bowling all-rounder Bjorn Fortuin. Three T20s precede the Test series.
Quinton de Kock will captain the T20 squad with Rassie van der Dussen as vice-captain while Bavuma will be the vice-captain to Faf du Plessis in the Test match squad. Chris Morris did not make himself available for selection.
Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn and Lungi Ngidi were not considered for T20 selection as they will be continuing their preparation for the Test series by playing in South Africa A’s four-day matches against India A.
“All three newcomers to the Test side have more than earned their spurs through impressive performances in last season’s Four-Day Franchise competition,” said CSA Acting Director of Cricket, Corrie van Zyl.
“We feel we have covered all the options for the conditions we are likely to encounter on the sub-continent with Muthusamy and Dane Piedt, who was far away the leading wicket-taker in our Four-Day competition, providing the back-up to Keshav Maharaj.
“Zubayr Hamza made an impressive start to his Test career against Pakistan last season when Faf du Plessis was ruled out and the retirement of Hashim Amla creates a further opportunity for him.
“The T20 Series gives us the last chance to have a look at our leadership and batting options as the next edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is now little more than a year away which is why we have gone with an inexperienced leadership group. This is our last chance to do this before we settle on an established squad.
“I would like to stress that Faf du Plessis remains an important part of our plans for white-ball cricket.
“As far as the T20 squad is concerned, Temba Bavuma and Bjorn Fortuin were two of the standout players in the CSA T20 Challenge last season while Nortje was outstanding in the Mzansi Super League until ruled out by injury.
“This is very much a form squad with players being rewarded for their consistent performances at the franchise level. This applies equally to Junior Dala and Jon-Jon Smuts,” concluded Van Zyl.
South Africa's Test squad: Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma (vice-captain), Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second.
South Africa T20 squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Rassie van der Dussen (Vice-captain), Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.
Here is the full schedule of India vs South Africa 2019-2020:
1st T20 - September 15, Dharamsala (starts 7 PM IST)
2nd T20 - September 18, Chandigarh (starts 7 PM IST)
3rd T20 - September 22, Bengaluru (starts 7 PM IST)
1st Test - From October 2, Visakhapatnam ( starts 9:30 AM IST)
2nd Test - From October 10, Pune (starts 9:30 AM IST)
3rd Test - From October 19, Ranchi (starts 9:30 AM IST)
1st ODI - Dharamsala, March 12, 2020
2nd ODI - Lucknow, March 15, 2002
3rd ODI - Kolkata, March 18, 2020
