ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Analyzing South Africa's squad
Cricket South Africa have announced their 15-player provisional squad for the ICC World Cup 2019 as follows:
Faf du Plessis (c), JP Duminy, David Miller, Dale Steyn, Andile Phehlukwayo, Imran Tahir, Kagiso Rabada, Dwaine Pretorius, Quinton de Kock (wk), Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Hashim Amla and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Duminy, Miller, Steyn, Tahir, De Kock, Amla and Du Plessis are the only players remaining from the 2015 Cricket World Cup squad.
It is an experienced squad, with Du Plessis, Duminy, Steyn, Amla and Tahir playing their third World Cup, and Miller and De Kock their second. The management has emphasized on playing an aggressive style of cricket, influenced by the philosophy of head coach Ottis Gibson, and the players selected seem well-suited to carry forward that philosophy.
After two years of trying different players to identify who to take to the World Cup, South Africa were left with deciding between Amla and Hendricks to open the innings alongside De Kock. Amla was selected owing to his experience in English conditions despite a poor run of form recently and a struggle for consistency going back to last year.
Hendricks has impressed more in T20 cricket so far than in one-day cricket, and is someone to consider for the future.
Amla, De Kock, Du Plessis, Miller, Van der Dussen and Duminy form the batting core of the team, with all of them guaranteed to play unless injury strikes. All of them have been in good form recently barring Amla, who has had to deal with personal issues.
Aiden Markram has been selected as backup batsman following his domestic one-day form, with 542 runs in five innings in the recent one-day tournament in South Africa.
David Miller is also the designated backup wicket-keeping option, with De Kock playing as the primary wicket-keeper. Miller played as wicket-keeper during the recent one-day and T20 series against Sri Lanka, and his success in that position meant that Heinrich Klaasen was not considered.
Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius are the only all-rounders in the squad, with Phehlukwayo playing as the main all-rounder and Pretorius playing either as replacement or if conditions require an additional bowler.
It is their bowling that gives them an edge over their opponents. Dale Steyn, Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada are the main pace bowlers, all capable of bowling at extreme pace and swinging the ball. Unless conditions necessitate an additional spinner, all three of them are set to play in every match.
Anrich Nortje has been selected as pace bowling backup.
Imran Tahir is the main spin-bowling option and will constantly be looking for wickets during the middle overs. Tabraiz Shamsi has been selected as second spinner, with JP Duminy on hand to bowl a few overs of off-spin if needed.
Managing the players' form will be crucial for the team during the tournament. A lack of batting depth is likely to trip them up at some point should their batsmen go out of form, and a lack of lower order power hitters after Phehlukwayo raises concerns that too much is being asked of the top and middle order batsmen.
There is a sense of finality to this squad, with Tahir and Duminy having already announced their retirements following the World Cup and Steyn not looking to play one-day cricket beyond the World Cup. Amla and Du Plessis will also be looking to slowly bring their international careers to a close after the tournament.
The worry about the impending transition is offset by the talents of Markram, Rabada, Phehlukwayo, Ngidi, Shamsi and Van der Dussen, who look set to form the core of the team beyond the World Cup.
Predictions: Semi-finals at the very least.