Ken Borland

There was sad news for Temba Bavuma fans on Wednesday as the batsman was ruled out of the entire tour to England due to an elbow injury, but his misfortune has opened the door for Rilee Rossouw, whom many have said they want to see back in the Green and Gold of the Proteas, to return to the T20 squad.

Bavuma injured his elbow in the fourth T20 against India a fortnight ago, and although Cricket South Africa have not said whether it is a tendon, soft tissue or bone injury, the white-ball captain has been slapped with a lengthy eight-week recovery time.

Rossouw has not played for the Proteas since October 2016, when he suddenly went Kolpak, but he has been in a top-class vein of form for Somerset in the T20 Blast. The 32-year-old has scored the third-most runs (498) at a scintillating strike-rate of 191.53, making him by far the most explosive batsman in the competition. The left-hander has passed fifty six times in his 12 innings.

While Rossouw is an exciting replacement for Bavuma as Quinton de Kock’s opening partner in the T20 team, the captain’s place in the ODI team is likely to be taken by Aiden Markram. The top-order struggled in the shock ODI series loss to Bangladesh at home in March and Markram provides not only a vital sixth bowler but also the potential for dominant strokeplay.

The Proteas have leaned heavily on their spin bowlers in white-ball cricket in recent years, but in their previous Test series, against Bangladesh, they used left-arm orthodox Keshav Maharaj and off-spinner Simon Harmer in tandem with devastating effect. Harmer has learned plenty during his six years of county cricket and has destroyed numerous county batting line-ups, so him and Maharaj operating together, if the conditions warrant it, make sense.

Apart from Bavuma, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and pacemen Daryn Dupavillon and Lizaad Williams have been ditched from the Test squad that beat Bangladesh, as the IPL stars return.

The T20 and ODI captaincies have been split in Bavuma’s absence, with Maharaj taking the reins in the ODIs and David Miller leading the T20 team, as he did for two matches against Pakistan in 2019.

Kagiso Rabada has been rested for the ODI series, while fellow fast bowler Anrich Nortje will play in all three formats after missing most of last summer due to injury.

Gerald Coetzee, the 21-year-old bowling all-rounder from the Free State Knights, has been chosen in the T20 squad, earning his first Proteas call-up.

Tristan Stubbs, the sensational young Warriors batting talent, will have his first taste of international action when he tours India with the Proteas T20 squad next month and his Eastern Province coach, Robin Peterson, believes the 21-year-old will only get better as he gains more experience in the shortest format.

Stubbs’s maiden Proteas call-up came on Tuesday following two outstanding T20 campaigns for the Warriors, scoring 506 runs in 17 innings, at an average of 38 and a strike-rate of 156. Many of his innings have been memorable efforts under great pressure at the death.

“We’re very proud of Tristan and very chuffed that he is getting this opportunity,” Peterson told The Citizen on Tuesday. “It’s a testament to his hard work. He’s a very natural player and being aware of the situation is where he has really improved.

“His biggest strength is that he reads the game well. And he doesn’t feel the pressure because he has the skills to get off strike quickly, get in and then explode.

“He comes in in different situations and he will only get better as he builds a database of doing it in different conditions against different opposition.

“Hopefully his IPL experience now with the Mumbai Indians will help make the transition to international cricket smoother. Mixing with Kieron Pollard, he’s getting some elite thinking on middle-order batting, and he has a great opportunity to play alongside David Miller now in the Proteas side,” Peterson, who represented South Africa in 100 white-ball matches, said.

As befitting someone who could come to the crease with three wickets down inside the powerplay, or with just 20 balls left in the innings, Stubbs has the all-round game for all circumstances.

“He has sound thinking around the game and he has all the natural attributes for the middle-order – he plays spin well, he can hit sixes and he runs hard so he doesn’t use up a lot of dot balls,” Peterson said.

“He loves his golf and was a great hockey player, which is probably why he has such good wrists.

“He’s a very laid-back surfer-boy from Knysna, but very competitive and very driven to succeed. It’s been a meteoric rise for him, but I just hope people are patient with him,” coach Peterson said.

Thirteen of South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad have been selected for the series in India, with Stubbs and left-arm quick Marco Jansen the only inclusions who have not yet played in the shortest format at international level.

All-rounder Wayne Parnell has also earned a recall, while fast bowler Anrich Nortje is fit again and available for South Africa for the first time since last November.

Squad: Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Dwaine Pretorius, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi.

South Africa’s squad for the three ODIs against Pakistan from April 2-7 should be announced on Thursday and with several players heading off to their IPL destinations thereafter, a rather different-looking T20 squad will also be announced for those four matches that follow from April 10-16.

The last time the Proteas assembled a squad for ODI cricket was at the end of last year for the ill-fated abandoned series against England, and that squad will form the basis for Thursday’s selection. Kagiso Rabada should return to the 18-man list, however, while fitness concerns could see Dwaine Pretorius and Janneman Malan make way for Wiaan Mulder and Reeza Hendricks respectively.

Andile Phehlukwayo is another player who has not played much cricket lately, the all-rounder having not seen action in a month due to a injury he picked up after bowling four deliveries for the Dolphins in the T20 Challenge. Given his meagre returns at international level lately, the all-rounder’s place must be vulnerable.

The domestic form of Sisanda Magala, a seamer who bowls a heavy ball and is excellent at the death, as well as being a dangerous lower-order hitter, makes a compelling case for him to finally see international action, having been a member of Proteas squads before but without getting a cap.

The ODI squad will go into a bio-secure bubble around March 26, which means the Proteas stars are going to be pulled from the 4-Day Domestic Series final which looks set to be contested by the Dolphins and Titans.

Even with the departures of Lungi Ngidi, Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock and David Miller to the IPL ahead of the T20 series, the bulk of the squad that were competitive in Pakistan should be chosen, proving to the naysayers that South Africa is not thin on talent.

Temba Bavuma will bolster the side as he captains the Proteas for the first time in both series, while Rassie van der Dussen could also be included, adding experience to the batting. Magala and Migael Pretorius should also be called up after their outstanding domestic form.

Seamer Ottneil Baartman is another potential new cap.

Possible squads

ODI – Quinton de Kock, Janneman Malan/Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Sisanda Magala, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks.

T20 – Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Pite van Biljon, Rassie van der Dussen/Ryan Rickelton, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Dwaine Pretorius, Bjorn Fortuin, Sisanda Magala, Migael Pretorius, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Okuhle Cele, Glenton Stuurman, Ottneil Baartman.