South Africa announce squad for T20 series against England
What’s the story?
Cricket South Africa named their squad for the three-match Twenty20 series against England that will be held immediately after the ICC Champions Trophy. AB de Villiers is named the captain of the side in the absence of South Africa’s regular T20 skipper, Faf du Plessis.
Farhaan Behardien was the skipper for South Africa’s recently concluded T20 series against Sri Lanka, which the latter won 2-1.
“I would like to thank Farhaan Behardien for leading the side so ably in the recent series against Sri Lanka. We are indeed fortunate in the quality of our team leaders and Farhaan remains very much part of this group,” said Linda Zondi, who is the member of the national selection panel.
He praised the players for their impressive performers in the past and stated that the cricket network in South Africa is consistently churning out talented players.
“We have also been impressed as a panel by the quality of players coming through our franchise and South Africa ‘A’ system and we are ready to give further opportunities to Andile Phehlukwayo, Mangaliso Mosehle, Jon-Jon Smuts and Dane Paterson who all made their debuts in the recent series against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, Lungi Ngidi could not be considered because of injury,” he added.
In case you didn’t know...
South Africa toured England for a three-match ODI series right before the Champions Trophy, which South Africa lost 2-1. A three-match T20 series and a five-match test series between the two will follow after curtains have been drawn on the Champions Trophy.
The details
The squad for the 3-match series is as follows:
What next?
South Africa will look to improve upon their dismal campaign in the Champions Trophy by performing well in the England tour. De Villiers is certainly struggling with form right now and you would hope that he will finally be able to cut the mustard in this series.
Author’s take
England’s aggressive side is tough to contain in the shorter format of the game, especially in T20s. However, most of their key members have been rested for the series. The South African squad, on the other hand, looks strong and balanced.
Considering the matches will be played on England’s home turf, it would be interesting to see what transpires in the three matches.