By CricketCountry Staff
Former South Africa pacer Fanie de Villiers has expressed his dissatisfaction over the exclusion of bigwigs Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn for South Africa’s two-match Twenty20 series against Australia.
Published: Oct 12, 2011, 06:49 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 12, 2011, 06:49 PM (IST)
Fanie de Villiers said South African selectors have made a mistake by not including the senior players © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Johannesburg: Oct 12, 2011
Former South Africa pacer Fanie de Villiers has expressed his dissatisfaction over the exclusion of bigwigs Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn for South Africa’s two-match Twenty20 series against Australia.
“I’m worried about Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis not being in the system,” de Villiers told the East Coast Radio’s KFC Sports Cage.
“I know they’re [the selectors] talking about rotation. If you haven’t got AB de Villiers anymore, that’s minus 15 to 20 percent of your potential. If you’ve got Kallis and Dale Steyn there [on the sidelines], that’s minus another 30 percent, so the team is half as strong as it should be,” he added.
“We’re not doing ourselves any favours with the team we’ve selected, and I don’t see us beating the Aussies with that team,” de Villiers added.
The former right-handed pacer said South African selectors have made a mistake by not including the senior players.
“We’re playing against Australia. It’s the first time we can go out there and hammer these guys, show them what we’ve got. It’s a matter of the best people should play against the best team in the world. Australia has always been one of the best, and I would pick my best team whenever I play Australia. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in Zimbabwe, or in India, or in South Africa, for that matter,” he said.
De Villiers welcomed the decision to include veteran cricketer Mark Boucher for the One-Day International series.
“Boucher back into the system is obviously a good call. In the recent World Cup, which we lost out on, we realised how important he could have been in that system,” said De Villiers.
South Africa will take on Australia in the first T20 on October 13, and second T20 match will be played on October 16.
