Injured Dale Steyn included in South Africa squad for World T20: Cricket South Africa have announced a 15-man experienced squad for the upcoming ICC event this march to be held in India. Dale Steyn will be part of the squad if he recovers in time from his injuries. The veteran pacer for the Proteas has not played since suffering a shoulder injury in the first Test against England in December.
Surprisingly Morne Morkel has been ignored from the squad. He has certainly been South Africa’s bowling spearhead in the absence of Steyn and had a successful tour to India late last year.
South Africa have included two specialist spinners for the spin-friendly conditions- Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso.
“We have a lot of experience in this group with 10 of the players having played in the last World Twenty20 in 2014, also on the sub-continent,” said Cricket South Africa (CSA) selection convener, Linda Zondi.
“The inclusion of Aaron means that we have all our spin bowling options covered with he, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy offering the different varieties. Left-arm spin bowlers tend to play big roles under Indian conditions.”
“Dale’s return is very good news. He brings tremendous experience and leadership to the team, not to mention his skills as the outstanding fast bowler of his generation,” Zondi added.
South Africa will kick-off their campaign against England on 18 March in Mumbai. They are placed in Group 1 along with 2014 champions Sri Lanka, 2012 champions West Indies and 2010 champions England. South Africa”s best performances in this tournament has been the semi-finals in 2009 and 2014 where they were defeated by Pakistan and India respectively.
South Africa Squad: Faf du Plessis (Captain), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.
