Proteas call-ups for Lizaad Williams and Wihan Lubbe

Titans seamer Lizaad Williams has been named in South Africa’s ODI and T20I squad for next month’s series against Pakistan.

Warriors all-rounder Wihan Lubbe and Knights seamer Migael Pretorius have been included in the T20I squad.

Titans batsman Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder Lions all-rounder and Dolphins fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon are in the ODI squad.

Lions seamer Sisanda Magala and Cape Cobras wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne are in both squads.

Former captain Faf du Plessis, who recently retired from Test cricket but is still available for ODI and T20I selection, has been overlooked.

“We’re very excited about these two squads that we have selected for our home tour against Pakistan. The ODI squad boasts the calibre of talent we have in South African cricket and I’m really excited to see how they go about the series,” said Cricket South Africa convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang.

“We have enough experience within that squad to provide a good challenge to Pakistan when they arrive on our shores.”

File image: Wihan Lubbe.

The Proteas and Pakistan will contest three ODIs and four T20Is from 2 to 16 April. The Indian Premier League, in which Mumbai Indians star Quinton de Kock and other South Africans are involved, will start on 9 April.

I missed the reason why our big dogs aren’t playing the T20s against Pak?

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) March 18, 2021

“The T20I squad is also a good indication of our depth as a cricket nation with the loss of some of the senior players to the IPL,” added Mpitsang.

“We have a massive 18 months of T20 cricket coming up, with two T20 World Cups for players to contest. We as a selection panel are looking forward to seeing what the new additions to the team will contribute to the Proteas’ system.

“The T20 Challenge created a good headache for us in showing off the many talented cricketers we have in our system. It’s a good headache to have and we’re confident that we have a squad that can and will ask a lot of questions of our visitors and make the nation proud.”