Huge blow for Faf Du Plessis looking at his stature as a player
On Tuesday, South Africa named its T20I and Test squad to represent their upcoming tour of India for October. Quinton de Kock, the wicketkeeper, will be the side’s captain in place of Faf du Plessis. The 35-year-old player will still be leading during their following three-match Test series.
Rassie van der Dussen will be the T20I vice-captain while Temba Bavuma will be vice-captain under Faf du Plessis in South Africa’s Test match squad. Three uncapped cricketers had been named in the Test squad. These include Anrich Nortje, the fast bowler; Senuran Muthusamy, the spin bowler all-rounder; Rudi Seconds, the wicketkeeper-batsman. The selectors have also named three newcomers in for T20I 3-match series, including Bjorn Fortuin, Temba Bavuma, and Nortje.
Corrie van Zyl, the Acting Director of Cricket, said on Cricket South Africa that these three Test newcomers have rightfully earned their places with great performances during the Four-Day Franchise competition last season. He feels that they have covered all aspects and are braced for the sub-continent games with Muthusamy and Dane Piedt, the leading wicket-taker of their Four-Day competition, with a back-up for Keshav Maharaj.
The director also added that Faf du Plessis is still important for their white-ball cricket plans.
Within Indian squad, the now fit all-rounder Hardik Pandya is the only update from the team that white-washed West Indies in three T20 matches last month. Jasprit Bumrah and MS Dhoni are not in the T20I squad. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, excluded from the squad against West Indies, still remain ruled out. Rishabh Pant is the first-choice wicketkeeper, covering for Dhoni. The first T20I match is in Dharamsala on 15th September, with the Tests starting from 2nd October in Visakhapatnam.
India T20 squad: V Kohli (capt), Rohit S, S Dhawan, KL Rahul, S Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wkt), Hardik Pandya, R Jadeja, K Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini
SA Twenty20 squad: Q de Kock (c), Rassie van der Dussen (v/c), T Bavuma, Junior Dala, B Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, R Hendricks, D Miller, A Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, K Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts
SA Test squad: F du Plessis (c), T Bavuma (v/c), T de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, D Elgar, Z Hamza, K Maharaj, Aiden Markram, S Muthusamy, L Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, V Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second
India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk),Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, M Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma
T20I Series Schedule:
1st T20I: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala,15th September (Sun), 7 PM (IST).
2nd T20I: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh,18th September (Wed), 7 PM (IST).
3rd T20I: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, 22nd September (Sun), 7 PM (IST)
Test Series Schedule:
1st Test: ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, (2-6 October), 9:30 AM (IST)
2nd Test: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, (10-14 October), 9:30 AM (IST)
3rd Test: JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, (19-23 October), 9:30 AM (IST)
