There were no major surprises when the South African cricket squad to tour India was announced on Wednesday. As had been widely predicted, vice-captain and wicketkeeper, Mark Boucher, was not in the squad.
Thami Tsolekile of Western Province/Boland will take up the wicketkeeping duties, while Eagles captain Nicky Boje was named vice-captain of the team.
The fourteen-man squad includes four new caps — batsman Hashim Amla, all-rounder Zander de Bruyn, pace bowler Alfonso Thomas and wicketkeeper Tsolekile — and Andrew Hall and Justin Ontong both return to the team.
Convenor of selectors, Omar Henry said Boucher had been dropped because of his form.
”From the selectors’ point of view, we looked at his form and decided not to take him. It’s best for him to work on his game and get his mind right, and hopefully, he
can come back and be in contention in the future,” he said.
United Cricket Coard (UCB) chief executive officer Gerald Majola denied that the selectors had come under any pressure to drop Boucher, or to select certain players.
”The only directive to the selectors was that they must select players on current form,” said Majola.
”We told the selectors to go to the Supersport matches, and to select players according to their form in those matches.”
Jacques Rudolph, who is out of action with a back injury, has been given until November 4 to prove his fitness, but Henry said the medical team was confident that he would be fit to tour. No replacement has been lined up at this stage.
However, pace bowler Charl Langeveldt, would be on standby for Boje, if he was unable to travel to India because of the possibility of being detained by the Indian police, who want to question him about the match-fixing scandal involving former South African captain Hansie Cronje.
Herschelle Gibbs, another player the Indian police wanted to question, had decided, on legal advice, not to make himself available for the tour.
Henry said Langeveldt had come close to selection on his current form, but he said other players, like De Bruyn, Hall, and Thomas were also performing well, and they were also able to bat. ”I think you could say he [Langeveldt] is a little bit unfortunate, because of his form. Someone is always going to be disappointed after selection.”
The team leaves for India on November 11, and will play two Test matches. – Sapa