Faf du Plessis said that he has only two selection options for the Proteas’ match against India, playing two spinners or all three seamer all-rounders.

The Proteas were hit with a major blow just a day out from the all-important clash against India on Wednesday. Dale Steyn was ruled out of the tournament after picking up a second shoulder injury.

‘He was seen by three of South Africa’s top orthopaedic specialists, shoulder specialists, and we were reassured by the expert opinions that Dale was clear to play,’ Dr Mohammed Moosajee confirmed.

‘His rehab and fitness regime continued at pace and the focus was to get him up to speed for the tournament. The plan was always to get him ready for the second or third game of the World Cup.

‘However, upon our arrival into the UK, once he started bowling, a different problem emerged, what we call a shoulder impingement syndrome, and he consulted with an orthopaedic specialist in London a few days ago.’

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Beuran Hendricks was called up as a replacement, but with the left-arm seamer only arriving in England on Wednesday, the likeliness of him starting is slim.

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Du Plessis explained his selection options.

‘We will have to re-look at that now. There’re only 14 players to pick from now, so it’s not, there’re not a lot of options in terms of the bowling attack,’ said Du Plessis.

‘Either you decide if you want to go with all your all-rounders in one team, and have a long batting lineup and try and change your game plan a little bit and bat up until nine and hopefully you can get a big score, chase anything because you have a lot of batting, or the two spinners.

‘Obviously, this ground will — I don’t think spinners played that big a role, but still, Shammy [Tabraiz Shamsi] is an attacking bowler for us, so those are the two options we are weighing up. There’re not many other options.’

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