The India tour of South Africa 2023-24 is almost here. South Africa are hosting India for 2 tests, 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is. The last time has left us with a lot of memories with South Africa dominating India clinching the test series 2-1 and clean sweeping the ODI series 3-0 and will be looking to repeat those performances this time too. We all remember that incident from the last test, where Dean Elgar’s DRS created a lot of controversies, with then Indian Captain Virat being heard saying “Find better ways to win” in the stump mic.
South African Squads for the Indian Series
CSA has recently announced their teams for the series against India with a lot of young and uncapped players getting the nod. The squads for each format look mostly different from the other, with several players rested. The CSA has picked an inexperienced for the ODIs and T20Is, but a full-strength squad is back for the tests. Looking at the performances in the ODI WC one might have a good opinion of the whiteball team.
But that is not the case as they just managed to qualify for it and found themselves in a situation where they might have needed to play in the Qualifiers. Their performance in T20I WC is not great either as they couldn’t manage to get out of the group stages in the last 2 editions. Qdk who is now retired from the tests and ODIs is not part of the T20I squad too as he preferred to play BBL instead.
And with the T20I around the corner, a lot of news is coming out. Faf du Plessis has announced that he is still hoping to play International cricket. If is going to make the return for T20 WC, when will he make his return? Will he be considered directly to play in the WC after the IPL? Currently, there is enough headache to deal with for the CSA.
Resting Pacers like Lungi Ngidi & Kagiso Rabada from the White ball leg of the tour
The CSA has made a brave call to rest the senior pacers and captain Bavuma from the ODI series, to play domestic cricket which would help them prepare for the test series, but is it the right call? There are mixed opinions regarding this. Rabada and Bavuma have been rested completely from the white ball leg, while Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, and Gerald Coetzee are set to play in the first 2 T20Is.
Also, With Players giving importance to T20 leagues South African Board has to deal with the players in a better manner otherwise they will soon be becoming like the West Indies. Players like Quinton DeKock and Dwaine Pretorius have retired from International cricket to play in the T20 leagues and more players would follow suit if they are handled poorly by them.
Also Read: ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Hardik Pandya: Leader Or Just Another All Rounder?