Test captain Temba Bavuma is back from an elbow injury to lead the South Africa Squad for Sri Lanka tests. The team aims for a spot in the ICC WTC finals and will need to win all remaining home tests.
On Tuesday morning, Cricket South Africa revealed the 14-member squad for the two-match test series against Sri Lanka where Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee will be returned to squad.
Bavuma’s presence in the squad simply boosts inexperienced batting unite, which recently saw three players scoring centuries during the series against Bangladesh.
The team are eyeing in the hund for a spot in the ICC WTC finals. To secure their place at Lord’s next year, South Africa must win all four of their remaining tests at home two each against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. A three wins could be enough for them depending on the outcomes of other matches in the competition.
Red-ball head coach Shukri Conrad has today announced a 14-player squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, which gets underway in Durban later this month.
Captain Temba Bavuma will lead the side after being cleared for selection following a fitness test on… pic.twitter.com/MuUhVjqb4q
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) November 19, 2024
Speaking after the squad announcement, South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad claimed that Bavuma is excited to return to the team as he hasn’t played test cricket in a while.
“He’s excited,” Conrad said. “He’s like a little kid in a toy shop at the moment because he hasn’t played Test cricket in a while.”
Speaking about the WTC finals chances, Conrad said, “That table is going to be quite a topsy-turvy one over the next couple of months,” Conrad said. “We all understand the magnitude of it.”
“We also understand that we’ve got to play really good cricket in order for us to achieve the goal. I think we’re going to run into a very confident Sri Lanka side.”
The first test will be played at Kingsmead in Durban from November 29 while the second will be held at St. George’s Park in Gqeberha.
South Africa squad for Sri Lanka tests: Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton and Kyle Verreynne
