South Africa Prepare for Pakistan Challenge Ahead of Champions Trophy

South Africa's men's ODI series against Pakistan is a crucial test for the home side, coming as it does between the Champions Trophy in February and March and the WTC final in June. The series will be the last ODIs the South Africans will play with their full-strength squad before the Champions Trophy, and several key players will be involved in the WTC final.

Injury Woes Hit South Africa

However, South Africa's preparations have been hit by a spate of injuries to their fast bowlers, with Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee, Wiaan Mulder, Nandre Burger, and Lizaad Williams all laid up. This has left the home side vulnerable and unable to afford another mishap.

Pakistan Confident Ahead of Series

Pakistan, on the other hand, are confident in the longer white-ball format, having rallied from 1-0 down to win the ODI series in Australia and Zimbabwe in the past six weeks. The visitors have also made several changes to their squad, with Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah all returning after being rested for the Zimbabwe trip.

Series Schedule

The series will be played at three venues: Boland Park, Paarl; Newlands, Cape Town; and Wanderers, Johannesburg. The matches will be played on December 17, 19, and 22, 2024, with the first match starting at 2 PM Local Time (5.30 PM IST).

South Africa Squad

The South African squad for the series includes Temba Bavuma, who will be rested despite being in his best ever batting form. David Miller faces a fitness test on a calf problem, but seems more likely to play than not. The possible XI includes Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, and Ottneil Baartman.

Pakistan Squad

The Pakistan squad, on the other hand, is in a state of flux following the resignation of Jason Gillespie as interim white-ball head coach. The possible XI includes Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Tayyab Tahir, Salman Agha, Mohammad Rizwan (c), Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, and Abrar Ahmed.

Quotes

• "It's very likely. The bigger picture we're looking at is what's at stake within the Test arena." – Temba Bavuma
• "As a head coach you like to have clear communication with your employer, and I was completely and utterly blindsided by a decision to not have a high performance coach or senior assistant coach Tim Nielsen (who) was told his services were no longer required. I had absolutely zero communication from anyone about that and, after a number of other things that had gone on in the previous few months, that was probably the moment I thought 'I'm not really sure if they want me to do this job or not.'" – Jason Gillespie