Rabada, Nortje omitted from Proteas squad for India T20I series as coach Rob Walter banks on fresh new talent
Proteas white ball coach Rob Walter on Thursday revealed the team aims to expand its search for young players to make the step-up to international cricket.
This comes after the Proteas announced their T20 International (T20Is) squad for India’s tour of South Africa next month.
India will play four T20Is against South Africa next week from November 8 to 15.
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje was the major omission from the squad, and Walter said he made the decision to leave out the experienced campaigner in order to unearth new talent.
Give opportunities to younger fast bowlers
“To be fair, obviously a tough decision but I just felt like I wanted to prioritise giving opportunities to the younger fast bowlers in the group. Anrich is a seasoned campaigner now, he's also involved in a lot of the T20 leagues around the world,” said Walter.
“We know what we get with him and he's a quality performer so we wanted to continue this quest of ours to build the base and to give experience to our younger players and in this instance we've got a couple of younger experienced fast bowlers that need to play against quality opposition.”
Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen make a return to the 16-player squad after ‘conditioning breaks’. The 24-year-old Western Province all-rounder Mihlali Mpongwana also received a first call-up to the national side.
Dolphins all-rounder Andile Simelane, 21, is also in the squad and still waiting for his Proteas debut.
One young player that was not picked was Dewald Brevis. The swashbuckling batsman who also bowls some handy legspin has been on the Proteas radar for some time, but the 21-year-old has only two T20I appearances to his name to date.
Walter hinted that Brevis was not yet ready to take up a regular place in the team.
“Dewald Brevis is part of a wider group of players. As I said before we continue searching for more fixtures for South Africa to ensure that we can give lots of opportunity from a T20 point of view in fairness,” said Walter.
“The guys that have been given opportunities have just performed better than he has. We know what he's capable of. We've got a lot of good youngsters who are capable of really good stuff in the short format.
“We always have an eye on him. He's always part of the conversation. We can't give opportunities to everyone. We are certainly trying our best to get that balance right. He's always part of the conversation. He's always in the planning. He will get his opportunity. I've got no doubt about that.”
Rabada rested
Another name missing is Kagiso Rabada, but his absence makes a lot of sense. Rabada has been one of the stars of the current Proteas’ Test series against Bangladesh, and managing the 29-year-old’s workload is always a matter of national priority.
Walter said he was working together with Test coach Shukri Conrad to manage Rabada’s playing time.
“Myself and Shukri have a great relationship. We speak plenty about all our players and in particular obviously KG had an eight-week break which was planned through this winter in order for him to be fresh and ready for Test matches,” said Walter.
“We've seen the result of that break in the way he's bowled in this Test match. It's been unbelievable. Ultimately I guess if I always put myself in Shukri's shoes if I was one person doing both jobs, what decision would I make and what's the best decision for the pro too isn't [necessarily] for South Africa.
“Ultimately it comes down to him being in the best position to deliver his best performances when he pulls on his jersey for South Africa. In this instance is prioritising those Test matches.”
Proteas squad for India T20I series
Aiden Markram (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Patrick Kruger, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Andile Simelane, Tristan Stubbs and Lutho Sipamla, who will only be available for the 3rd and 4th T20Is.