Cricket South Africa has named a 14-man squad led by AB de Villiers for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka. The 27-year-old Ab de Villiers gets his first opportunity to lead the team in the 5-ODI Series against Sri Lanka although he was named as the country’s new ODI Captain more than six months ago. AB de Villiers had injured himself during the Australia Series and thus missed out in his new role.
The South African ODI Captain will double as a Wicket Keeper with Mark Boucher getting ignored from the 14-man squad. Leg spinner Imran Tahir and middle-order batsman David Miller have been dropped as well.
There is a new player by the name - Dean Elgar who has taken the place of David Miller. The 24-year-old Elgar plays for the Chevrolet Knights in the South African domestic tournament. The left-handed Elgar has solid domestic cricket experience with 15 first class centuries to his name already till date.
The other inclusion in the 14-man South Africa Squad is the 28-year-old Rory Kleinveldt, who bowls fast medium and is a capable hitter lower down the order. Kleinveldt had played two T20Is for the Proteas in the past and was a part of the South African squad in the ICC World Twenty20 2010.
Here is the South Africa Squad for the 1st ODI at Paarl (January 11) and 2nd ODI at East London (January 14) :
●AB de Villiers (Captain & Wicket Keeper)
●Graeme Smith
●Hashim Amla
●Jacques Kallis
●JP Duminy
●Faf du Plessis
●Dean Elgar
●Johan Botha
●Rory Kleinveldt
●Morne Morkel
●Wayne Parnell
●Robin Peterson
●Dale Steyn
●Lonwabo Tsotsobe