Merely hours after the Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced that the Proteas will play the two-match Test tour against Bangladesh as per the schedule, the board has unveiled a 15-member squad for the tour. It has been nearly a decade since the last time South Africa visited Bangladesh for a Test tour. Barring Temba Bavuma, no other player from the 15-man squad was a part of that series. In other words, the conditions would be increasingly difficult for the African team to play.
One thing is certain; Bangladesh will only curate pitches that suit their strongest skillset: Spin. Going down the same road, the selection committee of South Africa has roped in three spinners. Keshav Maharaj, who helped South Africa win the series 1-0 against West Indies, will lead the spin attack with the off-spinner Dane Piedt and SLA Senuran Muthusamy following his lead on spin-friendly pitches in Bangladesh. The Proteas’ head coach Shukri Conrad expressed his satisfaction with the selections, mentioning that the squad consists of players who will thrive in the conditions Bangladesh will likely throw their way.
“I want to firstly thank both boards, Cricket South Africa and the Bangladesh Cricket Board, for ensuring the series goes ahead,” Conrad said announcing the squad.
“Bangladesh is always a tough place to tour. They’ve become a formidable side at home and we have to be prepared for the challenge that awaits us. We have therefore chosen a squad for the conditions we are expecting to greet us when we get there.”
Conrad backed Senuran to step up both with the ball and bat on the conditions that are suited to his skill.
“We have three frontline spinners and all of them have the ability to step up at any time they are needed. This is a great chance for someone like Senuran, who has the potential to make a mark with both bat and ball. We are really looking forward to seeing what he can offer. Overall, we trust the depth and versatility in our squad to meet this challenge head-on.”
Besides the tweakers, South Africa have chosen a relatively younger pace attack. Kagiso Rabada will lead an attack with Nandre Burger, Dane Paterson, and Wiaan Mulder. Surprisingly, Lungi Ngidi, who played one Test match against West Indies as well as white-ball series against both Afghanistan and Ireland, was left out of the squad. Similarly, Anrich Ntorje, who forewent the CSA contract earlier this year, was also left out of the squad. With Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee, both, on a break, it would be a tougher job for Rabada to keep the Bangladesh batters at bay.
Matthew Breetzke is the only uncapped player in the squad. However, given the amount of talent the Proteas have up top, he is likely to return uncapped after the conclusion of the series.
South Africa squad for Test series against Bangladesh
Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Kyle Verreynne (wk)
