Vernon Philander to miss the first two Test matches of England's tour to South Africa
South African fast bowler Vernon Philander has deemed unfit to play in the first two Tests of the four-match Test series against England. The fast bowler tore his ankle ligament while playing football in a training session, before the second Test against India in Bangalore.
Philander missed the rest of the series against India and was expected to miss six to eight weeks of action. The 30-year old was expected to return before the first Test against England, but the Proteas management decided to give he right-handed bowler some extra time to gain match fitness before he is included in the Test team.
The first Test match is scheduled to start on Boxing Day, merely two days after Philander’s recovery process is completed and as a result, he won’t feature in this match along with the next one. He is expected to be a part of the team for the third Test to be played from 14th January in Johannesburg.
"He will be out for the first two Tests and is doubtful for the third. Depending on the recovery, we might squeeze him in for the third," Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa's team manager said.
Dale Steyn is another casualty for the Proteas from their fast bowling department as he picked up a groin injury during the first Test against India in Mohali and has been out of the action since.
The team manager shed further light on Steyn’s condition and said, “The usual rehab period for a groin strain is 7-10 days but if you rush, you go back to square one. Dale is back in Cape Town, he is busy with the franchise physiotherapist and will have a fitness test a week from now to ascertain availability for Boxing Day.”
Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada and Marchant De Lange are the other three fast bowling options for the South African team, aside from Morne Morkel.
South Africa coach Russell Domingo rejected the notion that the team needs a major overhaul after one bad series, where India demolished them 3-0.
"There might be one or two changes," Domingo said. "If you lose, you automatically think you have to change everything and everything is broken, but might just be one or two things that need to be changed, or one or two players are not on top of their game. I'd hate us to panic and make irrational decisions because we've got quality players.”
The English team travels to South Africa to play four test matches, five One-day internationals and two T20 matches, in a two months-long tour.