Temba Bavuma replaces Dean Elgar as South Africa's Test captain; Keegan Petersen and Aiden Markram return for West Indies series
Cricket South Africa (CSA) have announced their Test squad for the upcoming home series against the West Indies. The selectors have taken a massive call by replacing Dean Elgar with Temba Bavuma as the Test captain. While Bavuma remains the ODI and Test skipper, he has decided to relinquish the T20I captaincy.
Elgar captained the Proteas in 17 Tests during a two-year reign, but had a forgettable tour of Australia. While the tourists lost two out of three Tests, the left-handed batter also struggled for form, managing only 56 runs in six innings at 9.33.
The veteran batter led South Africa to nine Test wins, including an emphatic series victory against India at home.
Introducing the new #Proteas Test captain - Temba Bavuma 💪
He remains captain of the ODI side while he has opted to relinquish the captaincy of the T20I side.
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CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe welcomed Bavuma as the Test captain, given his widespread leadership experience. He trusts him to continue the progress made by Elgar going forward.
As quoted by iol.com.za, Nkwe stated:
"Cricket South Africa would like to welcome Temba as the new captain of the Proteas Men’s national team. He is a player that has vast captaincy experience both at domestic level and on the international stage having led both the ODI and T20I teams since March 2021 when he was appointed.
"We trust he will deliver on all our expectations and help carry the team forward after some excellent work by his predecessor Dean during the same period.
"At the same time I would like to sincerely thank Dean for all his commitment to the role over the past two years. He helped the team navigate through some stormy waters and put them in good position on the ICC World Test Championship table."
As far as South Africa's 15-man squad goes, top-order batter Toni De Zorzi has received a call-up. De Zorzi scored 489 runs in four games at a tremendous average of 122.25 in the CSA four-day series Division One.
Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickleton, Senuran Muthusamy, and Keegan Petersen have returned to the squad as well. Markram and Rickleton weren't under consideration for the three-Test series Down Under, while Petersen missed the tour due to a hamstring injury.
Muthusamy made his Test debut on the India tour in 2019, but hasn't played for South Africa since then. The selectors have also left Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, and Lungi Ngidi out of the squad. Erwee has scored only one century in his last ten Tests, averaging just 26.61.
Sadly, Keegan Petersen has been ruled out of South Africa's Test series in Australia, with a hamstring tear. There are also some concerns over the fitness of Keshav Maharaj, who has a groin injury. Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma both fit.
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Addressing the selections, Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad stated that they have selected the best possible squad and are not taking the West Indies lightly. He said:
"We are pleased to see the likes of Keegan Petersen fit again and ready to play after his injury. He will add some much-needed stability to the batting, which has also been strengthened by the return of Aiden Markram and maiden call-up of Tony de Zorzi.
"We look forward to a good series between two teams that are rebuilding and we expect to only get better as we spend more time together as a group in the weeks and months ahead."
South Africa's Test squad to face the West Indies:
Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Tony De Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klassen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickleton.