Batting warhorses Rassie van der Dussen and Faf du Plessis have been called up to the South African ODI team for the upcoming three-match series against India. George Linde, the left-arm spinner, has been given his maiden call-up to the 50-over team. He replaces Tabraiz Shamsi in the squad, who has opted out due to the birth of his first child. Linde has played just one Test for his national team thus far, against India in 2019.
Du Plessis, the former South African skipper, has not been a part of the ODI team since the World Cup last year. He was rested for the home series against England and Australia, with Quinton de Kock having taken over the captaincy role. Van der Dussen, who has pitched in with a string of impressive showings, has been rested for the ongoing series against the Kangaroos.
In the absence of du Plessis and van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen and Kyle Verreynne have made vital contributions against the Australians. Both batsmen hold on to their place for the India tour, along with Keshav Maharaj and Lutho Sipamla. Janneman Malan, who is in the squad against Australia, though, has been dropped.
“It is exciting to see the amount of competition for spots that we have within the team and in the franchises, it’s a good headache for us as selectors to have,” CSA Independent Selector, Linda Zondi said. “We are satisfied with our picks for what will certainly be a challenging tour of India. We saw some promising performances last year from the T20 squad that travelled there and we wanted to give a player like George Linde another crack at the conditions which seemed to really suit him.”
Squad: Quinton de Kock (C & WK), Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lundi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj