KAGISO Rabada, who returned to action on New Year’s Eve after almost 10 weeks on the sidelines with a rib injury, will lead South Africa’s attack at the men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in February-March. Rabada, who took 2 for 48 on comeback for MI Cape Town (MICT) in the SA20, has been named alongside five other quicks: Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Lungi Ngidi and Kwena Maphaka complete South Africa’s pace battery.
Maphaka and Bosch are among seven players who will appear at a World Cup for the first time. The others are batters Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi and Jason Smith, and allrounders George Linde and Donovan Ferreira.
South Africa will be led by regular T20 skipper Aiden Markram and will have only seven members of the squad that reached the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Quinton de Kock is back at the top of the order after making himself available for South Africa in October, while David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, Jansen, Rabada and Nortje were all in the XI that lost to India in Barbados in June 2024.
Of those not in the squad, Heinrich Klaasen has retired from international cricket, while Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Bjorn Fortuin and Tabraiz Shamsi have missed out. All eight of these players are currently in action in T20 franchise leagues, with the first seven at the SA20 and Shamsi at the ILT20 and then the BBL.
“We have had to make some big calls, but we feel this group is the strongest and has every chance of succeeding in India and Sri Lanka,” selection convener Patrick Moroney said in a statement. “We have assembled a world-class squad with some of the finest and most experienced players in the game, together with some of the best T20 youngsters coming through.”
Among the biggest talking points in the current squad is the addition of de Zorzi, who has not played in a month, since injuring his hamstring in an ODI against India in Raipur. De Zorzi had been in good form prior to that match, and is seen as someone who is suited to subcontinent conditions. He is part of the Durban’s Super Giants (DSG) squad in the SA20, but has yet to play a game.
“Tony is recovering well,” Moroney said. “He’s working with a medical team and he will be fit and ready to go when we play the West Indies. He’s probably slotting in at number three.”
Moroney also explained the selectors’ thinking behind leaving out Rickelton and Stubbs.
“It was a big decision between Quinny de Kock and Ryan Rickelton and ultimately we’ve opted to go with Quinny de Kock in that opening berth along with Aiden Markram,” he said.
