Johannesburg – Away from the painful viewing that is the Test series in India, the national selectors will have kept tabs on events locally in the RamSlam T20 Challenge particularly as it pertains to the ICC World Twenty20 competition that takes place in India in March.
While a schedule for the tournament is yet to be released, ostensibly on account of internal politics among the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s state affiliates,that can’t be allowed to hinder the South African selection plans.
The RamSlam, which has not seen the highest quality of play thus far, reaches a conclusion in the league phase this week. The competition has provided the selectors with some interesting questions and may throw up some more as it heads into the play-offs. Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel were not part of the squad that won in India at the start of October and would presumably need to be accommodated somewhere – but for whom? Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott were both part of that side and neither has done a lot wrong. In fact, prolonging Steyn’s Test career may see to it that his international T20 one ends, though it’s doubtful that will happen before the Indian showpiece.
Quick bowling, though, is perhaps the one area in which no one has put up their hand in the RamSlam. But elsewhere it’s different. The battles for a top-order batting spot, and another among the all-rounders and spinners have all made for intriguing viewing over the course of the competition.
Top order batsmen
South Africa have utilised AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis in the top three and with De Villiers playing as the wicketkeeper the team have more options.
Still, it will be difficult to ignore the impact made by Quinton de Kock. The World T20 is in India and he’s had a run of scores in that country that’s almost obscene. There were three consecutive centuries for the SA A team in August and in the ODI series prior to the Tests he made another two. He’s maintained that form in the RamSlam and his aggregate before last night’s match in Port Elizabeth was 275 runs with two 50s at a strike-rate of 137.50. If there is a need for a back-up ’keeper, then De Kock is the obvious choice and if he keeps scoring he may well force himself into the starting side. Among the other candidates, Reeza Hendricks has drawn the most attention and has been consistent throughout, so will merit consideration. Easy on the eye, Hendricks – who before the weekend had scored 315 runs in the competition with three 50s – has married his natural shot-making talent with an ability to bat through a T20 innings while not letting the scoring rate stagnate. Richard Levi is destructive, and has been a key component for the Cobras, but his problems against spin bowling do him a disservice and with the tournament in the subcontinent, he remains an outside choice.
A late entrant is Rilee Rossouw. He also provides an option as a middle order batsman, but in that regard he’ll be competing against Dave Miller and Farhaan Behardien, and it’s unlikely he’ll be able to shift either of those two.
ALL-ROUNDERS
Albie Morkel has thrown himself into the mix after his late call-up to India to replace the then injured David Wiese. The 34-year-old, by some distance this country’s most experienced T20 player, went from outsider to serious and viable option in one match when he claimed 3/12 in four overs in the series decider against the Indians. Morkel’s bowling has been excellent in the last two seasons. His explosive form has placed the heat on Wiese, who, prior to India, had been the incumbent in the lower-order all-rounder role. The timing of the injury was unfortunate but unless he can produce some explosive performances in the play-offs it’s hard to see how the selectors can look at him when they pick the squad to face England and Australia in February prior to the World T20.
Chris Morris performed solidly when called upon in India and since returning for the Titans he seems to have regained the knack for picking up wickets – he was the competition’s second highest wicket-taker with 12 heading into the weekend. All three have experience of playing in the IPL – Morkel has plenty – and it will make for an interesting choice for the selectors. It’s likely two out of those three will go – remember, Behardien’s bowling is more than useful in the subcontinent, too – and Morkel and Morris are probably just ahead of Wiese at this stage.
SPINNERS
It’s almost a given that Imran Tahir will be the frontline spinner. With JP Duminy providing another option, it is unlikely there’ll be a second frontline spinner in the starting team – not unless groundsmen are preparing pitches like the one just used in the Nagpur Test.
There’ll have to be another frontline spinner in the squad, though, and who knows, if South Africa run into India in the latter stages of the competition, perhaps there’ll be another “dust bowl” on offer, in which case, playing three spinners becomes an option.
Eddie Leie was in India for the T20s but did not play. He returned to South Africa and produced some impressive performances most notably the 5/15 he picked up against the Knights in Bloemfontein on a pitch that looked like it was prepared by BCCI-trained curators.
Weirdly for South Africa, the RamSlam has thrown up a few spin options. Leie, the Dolphins’ Keshav Maharaj and the Titans’ Tabraiz Shamsi have all been superb. However, for all their efforts, the selectors are likely to stick by Aaron Phangiso, who has been a fixture in the limited overs squads in the last two years. The slow left-armer has been sublime for the Lions, giving up runs at a rate of 5.37 an over while also creating the necessary pressure which saw him atop the wicket-taking charts heading into the weekend. Phangiso is an old-fashioned scrapper, the type of player you want in your side and in his time with the national side recently he’s added guile to his accuracy making him an invaluable component for the Lions.
l South Africa play five T20s before the global showpiece starts on March 16. Two are against England and then Australia make up the rest a week before both sides leave for India. The England series might be used for some last-minute tinkering, but by the time they face the Aussies, the 15-man squad would have been picked.