CSA has announced a 21-men squad for 3-matchTestt series against India. Dean Elgar will lead the side with Temba Bavuma his deputy.
The strong presence of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Quinton de Kock in the squad only gets better with the return of Duanne Olivier who makes a comeback after February 2019. Olivier has been performing brilliantly in the domestic circuit for months now hence got included in the Test squad to strengthen the Protea unit. After recovering from COVID-19, fast bowler Lungi Ngidi is set to make a return to the team which increases the pace options for the hosts. Glenton Stuurman and Prenelan Subrayen are also back in South African side whereas Sisanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton have received maiden Test call-ups to the National side.
#Proteas SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
2️⃣ 1️⃣ players
Maiden Test call ups for Sisanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton 👍
Duanne Olivier returns 🇿🇦Read more here ➡️ https://t.co/ZxBpXXvQy1#SAvIND #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/6rIDzt1PuO
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 7, 2021
South Africa will host India for 3 Test matches and 3 ODIs between December 26 to January 23 with test matches to be played at Centurion, Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively.
The selection panel however has shown faith in the core group which also successfully toured West Indies earlier this year. “We as the selectors are excited for the return of Test cricket. Test cricket is very important to CSA and keeping it relevant and alive is one of the Organisation’s priorities. This series is also important in terms of getting some points in the World Test Championship table and we are confident that this group will pick up from where they left off and give us a good show on home soil”, stated Victor Mpitsang, the Convenor of selectors through a press release
The 3-match Test series starting from December 26, which will go on till January 15, 202,2 will be a part of a new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship.
South Africa Test squad Dean Elgar(c), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock(wk), Kagiso Rabada, Sarel Erwee, Beuran Hendricks, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Glenton Stuurman, Prenelan Subrayen, Sisanda Magala, Ryan Rickelton, Duanne Olivier.
UPDATED FIXTURES: India tour of South Africa
1st Test: 26-30 Dec ’21 – Centurion
2nd Test: 3-7 Jan ’22 – Johannesburg
3rd Test: 11-15 January ’22 – Cape Town
1st ODI: 19 Jan ’22 – Paarl
2nd ODI: 21 Jan ’22 – Paarl
3rd ODI: 23 Jan ’22 – Cape Town
