Batsman Rassie van der Dussen will become South Africa’s 16th captain in T20I cricket on Thursday.
Van der Dussen will captain the Proteas during this month’s three-T20I series. South Africa’s squad will be without multiple first-choice players, including batsmen Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen, who are currently involved in the Indian Premier League.
“Ideally, yes, you want to have the whole squad together and play some matches, but we know the guys are at the IPL and they’re doing what they need to do there,” said van der Dussen ahead of Thursday’s series opener in Kingston.
“The positive from that point of view is that they’re playing cricket, they’re in good touch, actually all of them, so they won’t be undercooked coming into this.”
Batsmen Ryan Rickelton, leg-spinner Nqaba Peter, all-rounder Patrick Kruger and seamer Ottniel Baartman are in the squad for May 2024’s series in the West Indies. All four have not yet been capped at T20I level.
“We, as the wider squad, have been playing together for a few years now, so it’s not a case of guys coming in and not exactly knowing what the team dynamic is about and the team philosophy and the soul of what we want to try and achieve,” added van der Dussen.
“From that point of view, it’s not a big problem. The opportunity here is for the guys, those types of guys who haven’t been here before, to get a feel for what’s going on.
“And we will trust players in their own right, obviously, but for them, if those new guys can get in a few performances, that would be great.”
South Africa’s 16 T20I captains
- Rassie van der Dussen
- Aiden Markram
- Keshav Maharaj
- Temba Bavuma
- Heinrich Klaasen
- Quinton de Kock
- David Miller
- Farhaan Behardien
- Justin Ontong
- JP Duminy
- Faf du Plessis
- AB de Villiers
- Hashim Amla
- Johan Botha
- Shaun Pollock
- Graeme Smith
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