AB de Villiers & Dale Steyn Set For Red-Ball Return

South Africa stars Dale Steyn, and AB de Villiers are all set to return to the longer formats of the game after being named in South African Invitational XI for the three-day day-night match against Zimbabwe in Paarl on December 20.

Steyn has not played any Test or international game since injuring his shoulder during the last year’s tour of Australia. He was expected to return to action earlier this year in June, but the healing process took longer than expected. He returned to action in the Ram Slam a few weeks ago and is now eyeing a return to South Africa’s Test team

On the other hand,  de Villiers has not played a Test since since January last year due to a combination of injuries and a self-imposed sabbatical from the longest format of the game. He recently made himself available for selection in all the formats, and although he played in the limited-overs series against Bangladesh, he was not included in the Test squad.

Temba Bavuma, who had a poor outing during the series against Bangladesh, and all-rounder Chris Morris have also been included in the team.

Speaking of the selections, Linda Zondi, South Africa’s selection convener said:

“Chris and Dale both missed the first five rounds of the Sunfoil Series through injury while AB was only available for one match. This is an ideal opportunity for all three to get back into the multi-day arena.

“Temba only got limited batting time during the Test series against Bangladesh because of the dominance of our top order and we feel he will benefit from spending more time in the middle.”

“These matches also provide opportunities to explore our talent development pipeline. We were very pleased with the way a similar squad performed against Bangladesh when they managed to lead on the first innings with Michael Cohen, Shaun von Berg and Zubayr Hamza being among those who excelled and they will all get another opportunity,” added Zondi.

After the warm-up game, the Proteas will take on Zimbabwe in the inaugural four-day day-night Test starting Boxing Day. It will be followed by three-match Test series against world number one India before both the teams lock horns in limited-overs games.

SA Invitation XI squad:

Dominic Hendricks (capt), Temba Bavuma, Tladi Bokako, Michael Cohen, AB de Villiers, Isaac Dikgale, Leus du Plooy, Zubayr Hamza, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rapulana, Kelly Smuts, Dale Steyn, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Shaun von Berg, Lizaad Williams.

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