South Africa pacer Vernon Philander ruled out of action till November

Cricket South Africa (CSA) will be worried as one of their premier fast bowlers Vernon Philander will remain out of action till November as he continues to nurse an ankle injury. The 33-year-old hasn’t played an international game since July and is struggling to fully recover from an injury he first sustained while twisting an ankle during a series in India in 2015.

Though he hasn’t played an ODI for South Africa since August 2015, the current injury scare could be a deadly blow to the prospects of him featuring in the Proteas’ squad for the next World Cup in England. He will miss the three-match ODI series which South Africa will play at home against Zimbabwe next month.

There is a little chance that the right-hand pacer would play in the white-ball series against Australia in October-November and there is no certainty that he will feature in the domestic T20 tournament in November-December. His next full-time engagement is believed to the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan at home.

Philander has played 30 ODIs for South Africa, picking 41 wickets at an average of 24.04. He also has played seven T20Is, picking four wickets in them.

Missed a Test against SL because of injury

A more regular in Tests (55 matches; 205 wickets; average of 21.54), Vernon Philander last played against Sri Lanka in Galle but missed the second Test in Colombo because his injury aggravated. He hasn’t featured in any form of cricket thereafter and is working on recovery. Surgery could be one solution but the medical consultants are banking more on a conservative approach, ESPNcricinfo reported.

South Africa have picked a number of fresh faces for the limited-overs series against Zimbabwe (three T2OIs besides the ODIs) to try new talents ahead of the tour of Australia and eventually the mega event in May-July next year. The Proteas fans are yet to come to terms with the fact that their dashing batsman AB de Villiers quit cricket in the year before the World Cup. More news about injuries would rattle a team which has seen a significant talent drain in the recent past because of inevitable reasons.

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