South Africa announce strong 16-member squad for India T20Is, Tristan Stubbs earns maiden call-up

South Africa have announced a strong 16-player squad for the upcoming five-match away T20I series against India, which gets underway on June 9. This will be Temba Bavuma’s men first T20I assignment since the 2021 T20 World Cup and they would like to put up an emphatic show. While the selectors have gone with most of the first-choice names, they have also made some interesting inclusions.

Tristan Stubbs has received his maiden Proteas call-up, having impressed in the domestic arena recently. Besides this, pace-bowling all-rounder Wayne Parnell has received his maiden T20I call-up since 2017. Hence, he’ll have a point to prove as well. Speedster Anrich Norje have also made a return to the national team after recovering from injury and expectations would be high from him.

This is the Proteas like we have not seen them in a long time: CSA Convenor of Selectors

Most of the players in the squad like Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, David Miller and Kagiso Rabada are currently plying their trade in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 and would like to deliver in the national jersey.

“This is the Proteas like we have not seen them in a long time. The injection of the IPL players means that we will have a team that’s ready to fire on all cylinders immediately and has vast experience of the conditions that we will be playing in,” said CSA Convenor of Selectors, Victor Mpitsang, in an official statement.

“Tristan Stubbs is an exciting prospect and we’re keen to see what he’s made of and we are looking forward to the return of the experience of Reeza (Hendricks), Klaasie (Heinrich Klaasen) and Wayne Parnell to join the likes of Temba (Bavuma), Tabraiz (Shamsi) and Keshav (Maharaj),” he added. Meanwhile, the T20 World Cup 2022 is just months away and a series win against India would provide the Proteas team a massive boost.

South Africa’s T20I squad for India series: Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen