South Africa vs Australia 2020: South Africa Announce 15-Man Squad; Faf du Plessis Rested

Following the announcement of resignation from the captaincy duties, the right-handed batsman Faf du Plessis has been rested for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Aaron Finch-led Australia. Alongside du Plessis, Rassie Van Der Dussen also gets rest while Keshav Maharaj receives a call-up.

The three-match ODI series will take place from February 29th to March 7th. The first ODI will be played at Paarl while the other two games will be hosted by Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom.

With a busy year and a half in mind, the selectors have opted to give further rest to du Plessis and other senior players such as Rassie van der Dussen and Dwaine Pretorius, while giving themselves an opportunity to see youngsters gearing up against strong Australian cricket team.

Series opportunity for young guns: Mark Boucher

Among the fresh picks for the series are Lutho Sipamla, Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne, who was also picked for the ODI series against England but did not play.

I would like to strengthen our depth – Mark Boucher

Speaking of the team composition, the head coach Mark Boucher stated that they are looking forward to the upcoming World Cup in 2023, thus, they want to try out the youngsters against World-class Australian side.

“With the completion of the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the next one being three years away from now, we always saw the series against England and Australia as an opportunity to play some fresh talent,” remarked head coach, Mark Boucher.

”Faf (du Plessis) has been fantastic for us in white-ball cricket and remains very much in our ODI plans and we will manage his workload for the near future diligently. I would like to strengthen our depth pool right now and see what players we have out there. I feel that this is the time and opportunity to do so,” he added.

South Africa vs Australia 2020: South Africa’s ODI squad

Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, David Mille, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Beuran Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Janneman Malan, Jon-Jon Smuts, Anrich Nortje, Lutho Sipamla, Keshav Maharaj, Kyle Verreynne.

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