Farhaan Behardien has been named South Africa’s stand-in skipper for the first two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Sri Lanka, while there are as many as six uncapped players in the 13-man squad announced on Monday (January 9), with the Cricket South Africa selectors deciding to rest several senior players.
Jon-Jon Smuts, Theunis de Bruyn, Mangaliso Mosehle, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dane Paterson and Lungi Ngidi are the six players in the squad who are yet to make their T20I debut. Among them only Phehlukwayo has international experience, having represented South Africa in a One Day International (ODI) against Australia in October 2016.
The 28-year-old Smuts, skipper of the Warriors team, was the highest run-getter in the CSA T20 Challenge 2016-17, scoring 371 at an average of 41.22, including a century and a fifty. Mosehle, the 26-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, was the top-scorer for Lions and the joint seventh-highest overall with 277 runs in the competition. De Bruyn, who featured in five matches for the Knights, scored 195 runs, including two fifties. Ngidi picked up nine wickets in the competition while Paterson bagged six. Phehlukwayo, who played only one CSA T20 Challenge game, picked up two wickets.
“We have decided to rest some of our key senior players for this series. This is the last chance we have to do this as the Momentum ODI series that follows is an important part of our build-up to the ICC Champions Trophy Tournament in England in the middle of the year,” Linda Zondi, the CSA Selection Convener, said.
“Those senior players who are involved in the Indian Premier League will be playing non-stop from now until the end of August with the tours coming up to New Zealand and England in addition to the ICC event. Farhaan was one of the standout players in our franchise T20 Challenge, being the second leading runs scorer behind Jon-Jon Smuts and having the best strike rate,” Zondi added.
The South African selectors had originally selected David Wiese in the squad but the 31-year-old allrounder was later withdrawn after he signed a three-year Kolpak deal with Sussex.
Zondi also revealed that AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel, who are recovering from injuries, could be considered for the third T20I. “Both AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel are due to resume playing at domestic level later this month and could come into contention for the third T20,” Zondi said.
The first T20I will be played in Centurion on January 20, four days after the fifth Test in Johannesburg is scheduled to end. The second match is scheduled for January 22 in Johannesburg while the third and final T20I will be held in Cape Town on January 25, which will be followed by a five-match ODI series.
South Africa squad for first two T20Is: Farhaan Behardien (c), Theunis de Bruyn, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heino Kuhn, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Jon-Jon Smuts.
 against Sri Lanka, while there are as many as six uncapped players in the 13-man squad announced on Monday (January 9), with the Cricket South Africa selectors deciding to rest several senior players.){kind=link}