Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad has explained the reasoning behind David Bedingham’s omission from South Africa’s Test squad for the upcoming series against India in November.

Conrad said the decision was based on the conditions expected in the subcontinent, with the selectors opting for players they believe are better suited to those challenges.

“We’re in a fortunate position in that we can pick horses for courses,” Conrad said. “The guys who did duty in Pakistan in the Test matches have shown what they’re capable of, and a case can be made for all of them to be re-selected.

“The reason why they were selected ahead of David was because I feel that in these conditions, they’ll be more effective. It doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for David – it wasn’t so long ago that he was one of our star performers at Lord’s.”

Conrad added that while leaving out a player of Bedingham’s quality is never easy, the decision was made with conditions and balance in mind.

“You leave a player out and it’s never easy, especially if they’ve done as well as they have,” he said. “But we’ve made some tough decisions along the way. Eight months’ time, when we play a Test match back home again, I’m sure David will be in that line-up. But purely for Pakistan and India, we believe the guys we’ve selected are better equipped.”

Since this press conference, Western Province has released an update on his fitness, stating:

“David Bedingham has been ruled out of the T20 Challenge with a right quadriceps muscle injury. He is currently progressing through his structured rehabilitation program under the supervision of the Cricket South Africa High Performance team.”