South Africa Test squad for Pakistan series announced, Injured Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder selected

On Wednesday, December 18, the Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced a strong 16-player of the South Africa National Cricket Team for the upcoming Test series against Pakistan National Cricket Team.

The Test squad was revealed by the Proteas' head coach Shukri Conrad. South Africa will take on Pakistan in the first Test in Centurion from December 26 while the second Test match will be played from January 3 in Cape Town.

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The series will be very important for Temba Bavuma & Co. as a victory in even one game will book their spot in the final of the ICC World Test Championship, which will be played at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder included in the squad

The CSA selection committee has taken a gamble on the fitness of Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder and included both players in the Test squad for the series.

Notably, Maharaj recently picked up a groin strain in the warm-ups for the first ODI against Pakistan in Paarl on Tuesday and had to be dropped from the playing XI.

Full details of the extent of his injury are not out yet and he will be undergoing scans on Wednesday to determine its severity.

Meanwhile, Mulder had fractured his middle finger during the first Test of the recent series against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team and is in the final phase of his recovery.

South Africa squad for Test series against Pakistan

Squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk)

Proteas Test Cricket head coach, Shukri Conrad, has announced a strong 16-player squad for the crucial upcoming two-match Test Series against Pakistan, scheduled from 26 December - 7 January.🇿🇦vs🇵🇰

The Proteas are ready to take on Pakistan and secure their spot in the WTC Final… pic.twitter.com/0Eu0uZakaZ

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 18, 2024

Kesh is obviously one of the senior players in the side - Shukri Conrad

Talking about Keshav Maharaj, the South Africa red-ball head coach Shukri Conrad said that the senior spinner is a 'calming influence' in the dressing room, and any decision on the new addition to the squad will be made after the results of the scans are out.

"Based on the outcome of that, we'll do the necessary. We'll see how severe it is, whether it's only potentially the first Test (he misses) or both Test matches. Once I get the results of the scan, I'll be in a better position to either replace [or] chat to the other coaches and make up my mind on the back of that."

"Kesh is obviously one of the senior players in the side. He is a great sounding board. He's got a huge amount of experience and he's such a calming influence in the change room as well," Conrad said.

"And he's an excellent spinner. Him, KG [Kagiso Rabada] and thankfully we've got Marco [Jansen] back - they're really the triumvirate that will ensure that we get the bulk of the 20 wickets we need to win a Test match."

Talking about other notable inclusions in South Africa squad, the two pacers Corbin Bosch and Kwena Maphaka have been added as the bowling cover while all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy is the only other spin-bowling option in the line-up.