South African stars back to face India in T20s

South Africa’s IPL players will be back in national colours after the squad to face India in five T20Is was announced on Tuesday. 

Several of the first-choice Proteas made headlines in March when they opted to skip the two-match Test series against Bangladesh in favour of the Indian Premier League.

However following the conclusion of the richest T20 tournament in the world, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and Lungi Ngidi will be welcomed back into the South African squad with open arms. 

The five-match series takes place in India and will be played from June 9 to 19 following the IPL Final on May 30. 

There is one uncapped player in Temba Bavuma’s squad, big-hitting 21-year-old Tristan Stubbs. 

Stubbs was the second-highest run-scorer in South Africa’s T20 competition last summer, smashing 293 runs in seven matches at a phenomenal strike rate of 183.12 including 23 sixes.

Faf du Plessis, currently the seventh-highest run-scorer at the IPL, was not selected. 

While not holding a Cricket South Africa contract, he remains available for selection in the white-ball formats, having retired from Test cricket. 

Allrounder Wayne Parnell returns to a South African T20 squad for the first time since 2017.

“Tristan Stubbs is an exciting prospect and we’re keen to see what he’s made of," said CSA Convenor of Selectors, Victor Mpitsang.

"We are looking forward to the return of the experience of Reeza (Hendricks), Klaasie (Heinrich Klaasen) and Wayne Parnell to join the likes of Temba (Bavuma), Tabraiz (Shamsi) and Keshav (Maharaj).

“The country can also join us in a collective sigh of relief at the return of Anrich Nortje, who has been working hard to recover from a frustrating injury. The National Selection Panel and I are really excited to watch our full strength Proteas take on the world’s number one T20 team."

This series looms as crucial preparation for South Africa’s T20 World Cup tilt in Australia, having surprised many at the most recent edition in Dubai in October and November last year. 

The Proteas won four of their five group games, including toppling tournament favourites England, but failed to make the semi-finals due to an inferior net run rate to both England and Australia. 

But South Africa’s form at the most recent world tournament was strong, they have considerable work still to do in the ODI format.

They currently sit in 11th position in the ODI Super League, with only the top eight teams, including hosts India, to qualify automatically for the 2023 ODI World Cup. 

While Cricket Australia are yet to announce the fixture for the upcoming summer, according to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme South Africa will visit our shores for three Tests and three ODIs. 

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