South Africa have recalled middle-order batsman Ryan Rickelton and the spin duo of Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj for the second and ultimate Test towards the West Indies at The Wanderers.
Coach Shukri Conrad revealed the beginning XI and says he had no issues over the type of newly put in captain Temba Bavuma, who bought a pair of geese within the 87-run first Test victory in Pretoria final week.
Rickelton, 26, was a shock absentee from the primary match given his glorious home type that has seen him rating 365 runs in 5 innings at a mean of 121.66. He takes over from Keegan Petersen at No.5 within the batting line-up.
“You want to be consistent with selections and reward performance, but you can only select 11 players,” Conrad instructed reporters on Tuesday. “Ryan is definitely one that will be a big part of the side going forward.
“Knowing the character he’s, he’s somebody we are able to construct our Test facet round. This shouldn’t be a once-off alternative, I feel he’s going to have a protracted Test profession.”
The Wanderers is usually a wicket for the seamers with pace and bounce, but in recent times has slowed down and that has prompted the home side to pick both Harmer and Maharaj in place of Senuran Muthusamy and injured fast bowler Anrich Nortje.
There is also a recall for seaming all-rounder Wiaan Mulder on his home ground.
“In the final 12 months the spinners have come into the sport right here,” Conrad said. “If the sport goes to days 4 and 5, our spinners will play an enormous half.
“It looks an abrasive surface, the one end will be more seamer friendly than the other. We feel the wicket will offer quite a bit for the spinners.”
Bavuma grew to become solely the fourth participant in Test historical past to get a pair on their captaincy debut after Mark Taylor (Australia), Rashid Latif (Pakistan) and Habibul Bashar (Bangladesh), however Conrad says there was no dialogue about it.
It locations the batter underneath higher stress after he was not too long ago axed from the Twenty20 International squad due to his type.
“Batters get pairs. He got two good (balls), maybe one was a tactical error in how he lined up to the bowler. We have to move on, it doesn’t make him special or otherwise. There has been no special conversation around it,” Conrad added.
South Africa Test XI to play West Indies: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (capt), Ryan Rickelton, Heinrich Klaasen, Wiaan Mulder, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
