Rickelton, Stubbs included in South Africa's T20 World Cup squad

Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs have been added to South Africa's T20 World Cup squad, replacing Tony de Zorzi and Donovan Ferreira due to injuries. Ottneil Baartman also remains out of the squad at this stage.

The changes, announced by Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Thursday, were injury-enforced and not a result of SA20 performances. Further injury concerns loom:

• David Miller is likely to miss Paarl Royals' eliminator on Thursday due to a groin injury.
• Lungi Ngidi left the field during Wednesday's qualifier with a leg issue after bowling only half his overs.
• Dewald Brevis scored an unbeaten 75 but injured a finger in the process.

All three are in the T20 World Cup squad. Ngidi and Brevis are expected to be fit, but Miller's fitness is a greater concern given his age and the severity of the injury, prompting the Royals to call up cover players.

Rickelton has also been included in the squad for the upcoming three T20Is against West Indies. Miller's availability for the World Cup is subject to a fitness test. Rubin Hermann has been brought into the T20I squad against West Indies following his SA20 form.

Rickelton's initial omission from the squad, announced prematurely by CSA on January 2, caused significant debate. He had scored back-to-back centuries in the SA20 (113 off 63 and an unbeaten 113 off 60) just before and after the squad announcement.

CSA stated De Zorzi was removed from the World Cup squad because his recovery from a hamstring injury was not progressing quickly enough to guarantee fitness for the West Indies series, creating the opening for Rickelton.

De Zorzi's original selection had raised questions about potential influence from CSA's transformation targets, which aim for six players of color (including two black African players) in the starting XI on average over a season. The racial composition of the T20 World Cup squad does not affect the previous year's tally, where South Africa's teams fell short of targets partly due to injuries to key players like Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, and De Zorzi.

A spokesperson for Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie denied any government interference in selection: "The assertion that CSA was pressured by the minister of sport or any government authority regarding team selection is categorically false… Any suggestion of government interference is therefore unfounded and incorrect."

The spokesperson noted that Donovan Ferreira, a white player, was originally selected despite modest SA20 form (54 runs in 3 innings pre-selection) before being ruled out with a fractured shoulder. Tristan Stubbs, also white, was selected despite a moderate SA20 season (28 runs in 3 innings pre-selection, 101 runs in 5 innings since).

Squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs.