Proteas spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was shocked that he was left out of the Proteas squad for the Champions Trophy. 

The Proteas opted to give Keshav Maharaj a run for the first time in ODIs instead, ahead of the 27-year-old who has five ODIs to his name. Shamsi expressed his disappointed being left out and went as far as saying he was ‘a bit surprised’, in an interview with Sportskeeda.

‘Naturally, it is quite disappointing not to be selected. It did come as a bit of a shock, but whatever’s done is done, I’m fully behind the team and I know they can go out there and win the Champions Trophy.

‘The squad that we have is quite strong and I’m looking forward to watching the boys bring the trophy back home for the people of South Africa,’ said Shamsi.

The chinaman refrained from naming any key players from the Proteas squad.

‘All 15 of the guys [are key players],’ he said.

‘I’m not just saying that for the sake of it, if you look at the names on that list, every single one of those players is a quality player, on any given day we have a lot of match-winners in the South African team, and that’s why I’m really positive and looking forward to the Champions Trophy.’

Shamsi has taken seven wickets in five ODIs, which included best figures of 3-36 against Australia in the fourth ODI on 9 October 2016.