South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter on Tuesday announced the 15-member squad for the men’s T20 World Cup 2024 to be played in the USA and West Indies from June 1 to 29.
Aiden Markram will lead the Proteas in what will be his first World Cup assignment since being named T20 International (T20I) captain.
The squad includes two uncapped T20I players - Lions batter Ryan Rickelton and Dolphins fast bowler Ottniel Baartman.
Rickelton finished as the leading run-scorer of the second edition of the SA20 with 530 runs at an average of 58.88 for MI Cape Town, while Baartman took 18 wickets in eight matches for defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape and is currently with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals.
If you're going to talk about someone who has forced his way into a squad, you have to talk about Ottniel Baartman, says Proteas coach Rob Walter pic.twitter.com/mcUcTIVWTo
— IOL Sport (@IOLsport) April 30, 2024
Experienced campaigners add beef to batting lineup
The team will also benefit from the expertise of batters Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs.
Leading the pace attack will be Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje supported by Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee.
Other notable selections include three front-line spinners in CSA T20 Challenge winning captain Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Pace pair Nandre Burger and Lungi Ngidi have been named as the travelling reserves.
"Firstly, I want to congratulate all the players that have made the cut," coach Rob Walter said.
"Selecting this group was extremely tough considering the amount of T20 cricket that has been played recently and the form that has been on show. I want to congratulate the two uncapped players, Ryan and Ottniel, on their selection.
"We have seen some incredible performances from our players in 2024 and that made my job very tough indeed. I am nonetheless proud and confident that we have named the strongest possible squad that no doubt has every chance of success in the West Indies and USA.”
Walter has also named a provisional squad for the preceding three-match T20I series against West Indies. This group will change and have players added to it when management is aware of IPL player availability.
Training camp
The provisional squad will assemble for a week-long camp from May 13 to 17 at the Centre of Excellence in Pretoria, with the final squad set to be announced prior to their departure on 18 May.
Walter added: "Our preparations for the tournament will start with a three-match T20I series against West Indies. For this tour we will unfortunately be without most of the players who are currently involved in the IPL.
"But it does provide an opportunity for others, especially those who excelled in the CSA T20 Challenge. A captain for the group will be finalised closer to the time.”
SA World Cup squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.
Travelling reserves: Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.
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