The uncapped Tabraiz Shamsi has been included in the Proteas ODI squad for their triangular series against West Indies and Australia in June.
The Titans 26-year-old left-arm wrist spinner will become the 116th player to represent the Proteas in the 50-overs format if he gains selection into the starting XI in the Caribbean.
‘We have opted for three specialist spinners as we anticipate the pitches in the Caribbean to be on the slow side,’ commented CSA selection committee convener, Linda Zondi. ‘Tabraiz has certainly earned his call-up following outstanding form both in our domestic cricket and in some of the major domestic T20 leagues including the Caribbean Premier League.
‘He has shown what he can do in the T20 leagues against international batsmen. I am quite excited about the state of our spin bowling and the variety we have. We are sending two wrist spinners to the Caribbean plus left-arm and right-arm finger spin options. Spin bowling is becoming an increasingly important part of both limited overs formats and we are only just over a year away from the ICC Champions Trophy Tournament in England.
‘In the short term our immediate focus must be to get back among the top-ranked Test nations and for this reason we are resting Dale Steyn for this tour. He is vital to our ambitions in the longest format and he is going to have a heavy workload in the months ahead with home and away series against New Zealand, a home series against Sri Lanka and an away Test series in Australia which is where we need to perform,’ explained Zondi. ‘He is certainly not out of the ODI picture and could well feature in the home series against Australia later this year.’
Wayne Parnell returns to the Proteas ODI squad for the first time since last year’s ICC World Cup in Australasia. ‘Wayne has the ability to become a quality all-rounder for us and, like Tabraiz, he is being rewarded for outstanding domestic form,’ concluded Zondi.
Faf du Plessis has been included in the squad despite the current injury to his finger, and is expected to return to action for the Proteas’ second match of the series.
Proteas team manager, Dr Mohammed Moosajee explained:
‘Faf sustained a broken left ring finger during the IPL two weeks ago and had fixation surgery to repair the bone tip this Tuesday in Cape Town. The surgery was a success and we are expecting a period of between four to five weeks for a full recovery. At this stage we are targeting for him to return to action for our second ODI against Australia on June 7.’
Proteas ODI squad: AB de Villiers (The Unlimited Titans, capt), Kyle Abbott (Warriors), Hashim Amla (Cape Cobras), Farhaan Behardien (The Unlimited Titans), Quinton de Kock (The Unlimited Titans), JP Duminy (Cape Cobras), Faf du Plessis (The Unlimited Titans), Imran Tahir (Sunfoil Dolphins), Morne Morkel (The Unlimited Titans), Chris Morris (The Unlimited Titans), Wayne Parnell (Cape Cobras), Aaron Phangiso (bizhub Highveld Lions), Kagiso Rabada (bizhub Highveld Lions), Rilee Rossouw (VKB Knights), Tabraiz Shamsi (The Unlimited Titans).
