AB de Villiers to captain South Africa in England T20Is

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AB de Villiers
© Getty

AB de Villiers will lead South Africa in the Twenty20 International series against England, Cricket South Africa confirmed on Tuesday (June 13). De Villiers will captain the side in the absence of Faf du plessis, who will miss the series and return home for the birth of his first child.

The selectors have included Dwaine Pretorius in the 14-member squad for the first time. Pretorius has played ten One-Day Internationals taking 13 wickets and scoring 86 runs so far. The squad also has JJ Smuts and Mangaliso Mosehle, who were part of the squad in the T20I home series against Sri Lanka.

While Aaron Phangiso and Theunis de Bruyn have been dropped from the side that took on Sri Lanka, Morne Morkel returns to T20I fold after impressive returns in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

CSA also omitted senior pros Kagiso Rabada, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock, as the selectors decided to give young guns an opportunity to prove their mettle. The break for the seniors comes perhaps in a bid to keep them fresh for the four-Test series in England starting on July 6.

“We have also been impressed as a panel by the quality of players coming through our franchise and South Africa ‘A’ system and we are ready to give further opportunities to Andile Phehlukwayo, Mangaliso Mosehle, Jon-Jon Smuts and Dane Paterson who all made their debuts in the recent series against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, Lungi Ngidi could not be considered because of injury,” Linda Zondi, the CSA National Selection Panel convener, said.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the newcomers to play alongside world-class and experienced players like AB, Farhaan, David Miller, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell.”

The first T20I will be played in Southampton on June 21 followed by games in Taunton and Cardiff on June 23 and 25 respectively. South Africa lost the preceding ODI series 1-2, ahead of the Champions Trophy.

Squad: AB de Villiers(c), Farhaan Behardien, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Mangaliso Mosehle, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.