The composition of the South African ODI squad announced this week is pretty solid, but there are a couple of omissions that should be questioned.
If this really is “a continuation of vision 2019 as we develop our squad for the 2019 World Cup in England,” as said by national selection panel convener Linda Zondi on Thursday, then Wihan Mulder should have been included.
Ottis Gibson has spoken a lot about the talented all-rounder and how he adds to the set-up’s depth and flexibility. October 2017’s ODI debut against Bangladesh suggested he’d be sticking around, but that isn’t happening for now. Yes, he’s only 19 years old and has a long future ahead of him, but one would’ve preferred that he feature against India now.
The inclusion of Tabraiz Shamsi is intriguing. He’s leading wicket-taker in the ongoing Momentum One Day Cup by a veritable country mile, but two wrist spinners seems a bit excessive. Had the series been played in India, sure, but in South Africa only one of Shamsi or Imran Tahir should have been chosen. The lack of a finger spinner, say, Keshav Maharaj, might still bite the Proteas.
Farhaan Behardien doesn’t have as many fans as he should and can feel the most aggrieved that he’s been sidelined. But it has been a while coming and, although he has been an impressive domestic performer for several seasons, he’s never quite been able to replicate this form at international level. This wasn’t always through his own fault, due to a tendency to send him to the crease too late – and the propensity to pigeonhole him as a finisher.
Regardless, the Proteas seem to be moving on in the form of Khaya Zondo. This, too, has been a while coming – and this is the right time to get the Dolphins captain into the reckoning. He is going to find to tough to break into the current middle order, but there might be space for him ahead of David Miller now and then.
Dane Paterson is another notable absentee, but they’re probably saving his death-bowling expertise for the T20Is, while Dwaine Pretorius was never really going to crack the nod amid the presence of stronger all-rounders in Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo.
South Africa’s relatively new-look squad and Zondi’s statement that “our vision is to give opportunities to fringe players and we will continue this policy throughout the build-up to the World Cup” points to some experimentation for the India ODIs. They can’t afford to do this too much, though, and end up like Australia, who have had their recent Test dominance somewhat tarnished by an entirely inadequate limited-overs display.
