Pieter Malan to lead South Africa A for three-match series against India A

India A will rub shoulders with South Africa A in a three-match four-day series in Bloemfontein from November 23- December 09 and Pieter Malan will be leading the side from Proteas’ end. Opener Eddie Moore and middle-order batter Theunis de Bruyn came up as surprise omissions when CSA announced the 14-member SA A team on November 10.

Though Malan has been named as the skipper of the side despite not being part of the previous squad, his selection cannot be questioned owing to his 44, 96, and 117 in his last three innings that pushed Boland to draw their first two fixtures.

Other notable omissions from the side are Dayyaan Galiem, Wihan Lubbe, Zubayr Hamza, Okuhle Cele, and Tshepo Ntuli who were present in the squad that defeated Zimbabwe by an innings and 166 runs during the first four-day Test. The second Test of the same series was suspended owing to the then fresh COVID-19 lockdown announced by the government in June.

Edward Moore who was seen in superb form during the game against Zimbabwe is still not clear about joining the Proteas Test squad owing to his injury. Hamza, who led South Africa A side that toured Zimbabwe is seen missing from the scenes as he has been named in the SA ODI squad which will play against the Netherlands on November 26 and 28.

CSA chief selector Victor Mpitsang gets optimistic about the SA A series

CSA chief selector Victor Mpitsang has stated that it would be a great time for the young team to get some exposure and make the best of their opportunities after the COVID-19 halt.

“It is therefore vital that a steady stream of talent continues to emerge from our high-performance program,” CSA chief selector Victor Mpitsang as quoted by the Sunday Times.

“The Covid-19 pandemic saw the disruption of the SA A team’s fixtures, and CSA is pleased to see the return of content for this programme. We are looking forward to more tours for this team in particular, as the A team program is a crucial one to CSA’s overall pipeline strategy.”

SA A squad: Pieter Malan (captain), Sarel Erwee, Dominic Hendricks, Raynard van Tonder, Sinethemba Qeshile, Senuran Muthusammy, Marco Jansen, Migael Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks, Lutho Sipamla, Glenton Stuurman, George Linde, Jason Smith, Tony de Zorzi.