On Wednesday evening, Cricket South Africa announced the Test squad for the Pakistan series which includes injured Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder. South Africa has played a gamble here because there is uncertainty regarding gaining proper fitness before the first test against Pakistan for both Maharaj and Mulder.
Maharaj suffered a groin strain during the warm-ups for the first ODI in Paarl on Tuesday and was forced to withdraw from the team just before the toss. He will have a scan later on Wednesday to establish the seriousness of his injury.
Senuran Muthusamy, a left-arm spin-bowling allrounder, is the only other spinner in the squad, so if Maharaj is unable to play, South Africa may have to look elsewhere for replacements. Given that the first Test is set at the seamer-friendly SuperSport Park in Centurion, Maharaj’s absence may have little impact on South Africa.
However, this does not decrease the concerns for South Africa because the team also has four other injured quicks who cannot be considered to play—Lungi Ngidi (hip injury), Gerald Coetzee (groin injury), Nandre Burger (lower back stress fracture), and Lizaad Williams (knee injury) are all sidelined until next year.
So Mulder’s fitness becomes more crucial for South Africa than Maharaj as far as the first test is concerned. Although South Africa’s ace pace bowling pair of Rabada and Jansen is currently fit and part of South Africa’s ODI squad against Pakistan.
Mulder had injured his right middle finger while batting against Sri Lanka in Durban last month and is in the last stages of recuperation. If he becomes fit for the Boxing Day match, the Proteas will have a decent pace bowling option to rest main bowlers.
If Mulder couldn’t get fit for the first test, then Corbin Bosch and Kwena Maphaka, two uncapped seam bowlers, are ready to make up the bowling cover. Bosch has recently played for the South African Invitation XI against the England Lions, taking 1 for 21 in five overs, and has a first-class batting average of over 40, which makes him a like-for-like replacement in place of Mulder.
On the other hand, Maphaka was also called up to the test in the Sri Lanka Series as a backup when Coetzee was hurt. However, he didn’t get a chance to play. Currently, he is a member of the ODI squad that is playing against Pakistan; however, he has yet to make his debut in the format.
South Africa Test Squad for Pakistan Series
Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk)
In the last 10 years, South Africa has only lost one Test at SuperSport Park, to India in 2021. They need one more win to guarantee a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, and they have only this series against Pakistan to do it.
South Africa will face Pakistan on Boxing Day (26 December) at SuperSport Park, followed by the customary New Year’s Test at Newlands.
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