To say that the Proteas have had an eventful last two years would be a gross understatement. There have been plenty of ins and outs in the backroom staff as well as the appointment of a new shorter-formats captain: Temba Bavuma.

On the T20I side of things, South Africa have strung together three consecutive series wins: one in the Caribbean followed by one in Ireland and the third in Sri Lanka.

When the squad was announced, there was plenty of uproar regarding the exclusion of veteran batter and former skipper Faf du Plessis, as well as the experienced pace-bowling all-rounder Chris Morris. Fortunately, there are plenty of top-order options available and they’ll look to bank on the experience of more than half of the squad to take them all the way.

The bowling looks fairly settled, with express pacer Anrich Nortje coming off a stellar IPL with Delhi as well as the current #1 T20I bowler in the world: left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.

There are mild concerns over the middle order and death-overs impetus, and yes, bowling can’t always win you games. But more importantly, the confidence level is relatively higher than it was earlier this year. It should be a cracking tournament for the South Africans, and there will be plenty to play for.

Aside from Shamsi, the improvement of Bjorn Fortuin and the rise of Keshav Maharaj across formats couldn’t have happened at a more opportune juncture. The team is locked and loaded to rock and roll.

Roster:
Temba Bavuma (c)
Quinton de Kock (wk)
Bjorn Fortuin
Reeza Hendricks
Heinrich Klaasen (wk)
Keshav Maharaj
Aiden Markram
David Miller
Wiaan Mulder
Lungi Ngidi
Anrich Nortje
Dwaine Pretorius
Kagiso Rabada
Tabraiz Shamsi
Rassie van der Dussen

Reserves:
George Linde
Andile Phehlukwayo
Lizaad Williams

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