Van der Dussen to Captain South Africa in Zimbabwe Tri-Series; Injury Sidelines Nortje

Rassie van der Dussen, Nandre Burger, and Gerald Coetzee are set to make their return to the South African squad, alongside coach Rob Walter. Lhuan-dre Pretorius receives his first call-up, while Corbin Bosch, Rubin Hermann, and Senuran Muthusamy are welcomed to the T20I format. However, Anrich Nortje will be sidelined due to injury.

Anrich Nortje, battling a stress-related back problem, misses out on the tri-series. © Getty

Van der Dussen's last appearance for South Africa was in March, Burger in August, and Coetzee in November. Pretorius, Bosch, Hermann, and Muthusamy are all in line to earn their first T20I caps. Walter returns to the coaching role after time away, while Shukri Conrad, South Africa's red-ball coach since January 2023, will take charge of the white-ball format, succeeding Walter.

The T20I triangular series is scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe next month, featuring South Africa, New Zealand, and the host nation.

"I look forward to catching up with Rob," Conrad said at a press conference announcing the squad. "We've been chatting, and we're going to share a nice sparkling water. He's got valuable insights into our squad, which makes the tri-series all the more spicy."

Van der Dussen will captain the team in the absence of Aiden Markram, who, along with Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Ryan Rickelton, Kagiso Rabada, and Tristan Stubbs, will be rested for the series.

Conrad has emphasized his desire to have South Africa's best players available as often as possible, a challenging task given the prevalence of various leagues in the modern cricketing landscape. However, this squad announcement appears to deviate from that philosophy.

"The all-format players had Test series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home [in November and December]," Conrad explained. "Then they had the SA20 [in January and February], then they went straight into an IPL that went on for a bit longer [from March to June]. Then we had the WTC final [at Lord's this month]. Their last few months have been chock-a-block."

"If you cast your eye on what the next few months look like for us, starting with this series and then a couple of days after that we go to Australia [in August, for white-ball series] and England [in September, also for white-ball rubbers], we felt it was the best thing for them to freshen up."

Burger and Coetzee return from injury layoffs, but Nortje, initially considered for the tri-series, is unavailable due to a stress-related back issue. This marks another setback for the fast bowler.

"It's the second or third stress reaction in his back," Conrad stated. "So, of course, it's something to be concerned about. But there's still a long way to go to make a decision in terms of how we're going to go forward. We're definitely not going to draw a line through his name."

"He's only 31, and we're going to give him every chance to get back on his feet and fight back. We're going to see how things develop and what the medical staff feel is the path forward and how it's going to look."

Nortje last played for South Africa in June 2024. Since his debut in March 2019, South Africa has played 208 games, but Nortje has only featured in less than 40% of them, due to injuries and his focus on franchise cricket.

In a positive development, Pretorius has earned his place on the international stage. "He's a special breed, the type of player who announces themselves on the biggest stage," Conrad commented. "He did really well in the under-19 World Cup, and he debuted in the SA20 and was phenomenal. He's played first-class cricket for the Titans, and he scored a hundred on debut and a hundred in the final. That says there's something special about him."

Pretorius was South Africa's highest run-scorer at the 2023 under-19 World Cup and the highest at this year's SA20. He scored 120 on his first-class debut against the Warriors in December and 114 in the final against the Lions in April.