• SA to India: Six surprise exclusions

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    The Proteas squad for this month’s three ODIs in India includes the uncapped George Linde, retained Kyle Verreynne and others. But there are some notable omissions, too.

    Janneman Malan

    • Malan was blooded in the T20I XI before being named in the ODI squad for this year’s series against England, but didn’t play. He was retained for the ongoing series against Australia and debuted with a first-ball duck in the first ODI at Boland Park in Paarl. He is increasingly taking a back seat to new-found opener Temba Bavuma.

    Bjorn Fortuin

    • The popularity of fellow left-arm spinner Linde has caught up with Fortuin. Linde is a significantly stronger batsman than Fortuin and already boasts international experience in India after debuting in last year’s Test series. This is the right move, even if unfortunate for Fortuin.

    Reeza Hendricks

    • Hendricks continues to get a raw deal. He was left out of the squad for the 2019 World Cup in favour of Hashim Amla – a failed choice. Hendricks was not initially included in the squad for the recent T20Is against Australia, but was a belated addition as injury cover. He walked straight into the XI for one match before being dropped again. He responded by striking a ton for the Lions against the Warriors.

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    Aiden Markram

    • Markram has returned from injury and the brief tour of India would have been a good time to test whether he can still hack it at international level. He was formerly tipped to be South Africa’s next captain, but his popularity has diminished in the wake of a string of poor performances.

    Zubayr Hamza

    • Hamza is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing One-Day Cup and has captained the Cape Cobras in a few matches. His last six innings have yielded just one failure in a string of scores that features three half-centuries and two tons. One of those half-tons, 93, almost transitioned to a third century.

    Shaun von Berg

    • With Tabraiz Shamsi not selected due to paternity leave and Imran Tahir having retired from ODI cricket, the Proteas could have done with another leg-spinner. The selectors saw enough in Von Berg to include him in the squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2018, but he hasn’t factored since. He’s right up there among the leading wicket-takers in the One-Day Cup at the moment.

    Photo: Gallo Images

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    SA CRICKET