The ankle injury suffered by speed bowler Kagiso Rabada dealt a serious blow to the touring South Africa team ahead of their two-match T20I series against Ireland and their three-match Test series against England.
Rabada's injury might necessitate him watching the games against Ireland from beyond the boundary rope. After the series against Ireland, he will be evaluated for the Test series against England, which starts at Lord's on August 17.
After consulting with the Proteas medical staff, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Tuesday that the fast bowler will now start medical treatment and rehabilitation.
Given that South Africa presently leads the nine-team standings and has a strong chance of making the World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2023, the match versus England is essential.
With 71.43 percent of the attainable points, the Proteas presently lead the WTC standings. The two Twenty20 Internationals against Ireland on neutral English soil will serve as crucial preparation for the ICC Men's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, which starts in October.
Both teams have landed in Bristol ahead of the series, which starts on August 3. Ireland's in-form batter Harry Tector is eager to see how well both teams can compete against one another after heroic series losses to India and New Zealand.
Tector was described by ICC as saying, "It's been a mixed bag in terms of outcomes, but the style we are playing is obviously improving — I believe that's the key takeaway of the summer so far."
"We occasionally get bowled out for a low total because of the kind of cricket we play, but other international sides do the same thing. We're hoping to build on that, especially as a batting unit going to a T20 World Cup in October, so I think you have to embrace it if you're willing to get those huge runs, which happily we're seeing more of "Tector remarked.