Published: Aug 14, 2019, 02:26 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 14, 2019, 02:26 PM (IST)
South African speedster Dale Steyn has taken a dig at the national selectors after being ignored for the upcoming T20Is in India.
Steyn recently announced his retirement from Test cricket but said he is available for selection for the three-match series next month. The Cricket South Africa (CSA) selectors, though, did not name him in the squad that will be travelling to India to play three T20Is next month.
Bemused by his non-selection, Steyn took a dig at the selectors on Twitter.
I did… Obviously lost my number in the reshuffling of coaching staff.
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) August 13, 2019
Steyn played in the home T20I series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. He was also a part of the squad for World Cup 2019 but was ruled out in the first week due to a shoulder injury that he had suffered during IPL 2019.
Apart from ignoring Steyn, CSA also delivered a big surprise by removing Faf du Plessis as the captain in the shortest format of the game. Quinton de Kock was given the charge. He will be assisted by Rassie van der Dussen.
Also Read: South Africa call-up three uncapped players for India T20Is
Anrich Nortje, who made ODI debut earlier this year, was called in the T20I side for the first time. He was also the part of South Africa’s World Cup squad but was ruled out due to a broken right thumb. Test-regular Temba Bavuma is another new face in South Africa’s T20I squad along with Bjorn Fortuin, who recently bagged the CSA T20 Challenge Player of the Year and Domestic Players’ Player award.
In the Test squad, Nortje, Rudi Second and Senuran Muthuswamy were the new faces. Second is back-up wicketkeeper to de Kock while spinner Muthuswamy will assist Keshav Maharaj.
South Africa kick off the tour of India with three T20Is on September 15, 18 and 22. Visakhapatnam will host the first Test from October 2 to 6. The next two Tests will be played in Ranchi and Pune from October 10 and 19, respectively.
