AB de Villiers Ruled Out Of Zimbabwe Warm-Up Tie

AB de Villiers, the former South African skipper, has been ruled out of the warmup game against Zimbabwe before the first and the only Test between South Africa will be played from December 26 to 29.

“AB de Villiers is struggling with lower back stiffness and has been withdrawn from the three-day warm-up match as a precaution,” Proteas team manager, Dr Mohammed Moosajee said.

Ironically, de Villiers has been made a comeback to the Test side the same day he was ruled out of the practice game. De Villiers has made a comeback to the Test side after almost two years. He last played a Test match in January 2016 against England.

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Pos that, he suffered an elbow injury and went onto miss a couple of Test series. Later, he also stepped down from the post of Test captaincy and soon, handed over the ODI captaincy to Faf du Plessis as well. This was the only practice game which he was playing before Zimbabwe Test. He last played a first-class game in October this year.

Apart from him, pacers Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander have also made a comeback to the Test side. While Steyn is coming to the Test side after one year, the rest of two players were injured during the season and are making a comeback after providing fitness in the domestic cricket.

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South African selectors have named a strong pace attack, and few of the senior bowlers are expected to warm the bench for the Test match.

Meanwhile, Chris Morris, who has not been named in the Test side, has also withdrawn from the practice game,

The first and only Test between South Africa and Zimbabwe will be a historical one as it will be the first time in the history of Test cricket when two teams will be playing four day game. It will be played with a pink ball. The match will be played from December 26 to 29. Faf du Plessis will lead the team after he proved his fitness for selection.

South Africa Invitation XI squad: Dominic Hendricks (captain), Temba Bavuma, Tladi Bokako, Michael Cohen, Isaac Dikgale, Leus du Plooy, Dayyaan Galiem, Zubayr Hamza, Kagiso Rapulana, Kelly Smuts, Dale Steyn, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Shaun von Berg, Lizaad Williams.

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