FILE - Proteas batsman Ryan Rickelton plays a shot on the leg-side during a recent series against the West Indies. The left-hander is back in the South African line-up for the second Test against Sri Lanka, which starts on Thursday.
Image: Daniel Prentice Getty Images via AFP
Proteas captain has backed Ryan Rickelton and Dane Paterson to do the business when South Africa take on Sri Lanka in the second Test at St George's in Gqeberha from Thursday.
Bavuma revealed on Thursday that the Proteas will replace the injured Gerald Coetzee and Wiaan Mulder with Rickelton and Paterson. The Proteas were weighing up many options before match, with the tough decision being who to replace all-rounder Mulder with.
Mulder had been in cracking form with both bat and ball for the Proteas, becoming the two-in-one cricketer he had promised to be as a youngster coming through. There were a couple of names gunning for the injured Mulder's spot, with spinning all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy, rookie left-arm speedster Kwena Maphaka and Rickelton all viable options.
In the end, coach Shukri Conrad replaced "Mulder the batter" with Rickelton for the Test.
"We are going in with three seamers and a frontline spinner, with the rest being the batters," Bavuma said ahead of the match.
"We were quite happy from a bowling point of view with the resources that we have, the three front-line seamers and Keshav [Maharaj] from a spin point of view. Aiden [Markram] can also do a job.
"Looking at the make-up of the team, we always want to have as many runs on the board as possible. Rickelton coming in gives us that extra batter. It always encourages us to keep playing in a positive manner."
There have been a lot of calls to give Maphaka a go after the youngster made his international debut earlier this year in the T20 series against the West Indies. However, Bavuma says his time in the Proteas' whites will come.
"It's nice to have him in the team, a lovely young guy. I played a bit with him at the Lions," Bavuma said.
"He is quite thrilled to be here. He obviously knows that there are certain things that he needs to do to be one of the main guys within our bowlers."
Meanwhile Paterson comes back to the ground where he made his Test debut four years ago against England.
Paterson was recalled to the Proteas set-up in February this year for the Test series against New Zealand after he was in the international wilderness after for the past four years.
After playing two Tests in 2020, the Western Province seamer will now play his fourth Test of the year, with the Proteas viewing his skills on the St George's Park surface a must over the next couple of days.
Bavuma revealed that the pitch has a bit of grass on, but doesn't expect it to be as spicy as the surface they encountered at Kingsmead in Durban in the first Test. This is mainly because of the good weather around, while the wind tends to flatten out the surface early in the match.
"If you look at our bowlers, besides Wiaan Mulder, Pato is probably the one guy that can hit the stumps consistently," Bavuma said.
"St. Georges is one of those wickets where LBW, bowled and even caught behind become more prominent as wicket-taking options. From a skill point of view, there aren't many guys like Pato, who can push it up there to get the ball swinging and nipping.
"He has played five Tests in four years, but every time he has got an opportunity, he has showed why he should probably be playing more."
Proteas team for St George's Park
Aiden Markam, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne (wicket-keeper), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson.
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