Farhaan Behardien appointed new T20 captain of South Africa; 6 news faces included

What’s the story?

Middle order batsman Farhan Behardien has been appointed the captain of the South Africa Twenty20 team. The squad also includes 6 new faces which would take on Sri Lanka later this month. Only Farhaan Behardien, David Miller, Imran Tahir, Aaron Phangiso were the only survivors from the World T20 squad.

Kyle Abbott and David Wiese were not considered as they have already signed a Kolpak Deal.

In case you didn’t know...

Many of the players were not available for selection as they have signed a Kolpak deal which has effectively ended their International career. These players include Kyle Abbott, David Wiese, Marchant de Lange and Rilee Rossouw.

The heart of the matter

The selectors have decided to rest regular captain Faf du Plessis and many other regulars like Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and Kagiso Rabada owing to their heavy workload over the recent past.

Their packed schedule can be gauged from the fact that they had only three weeks between their Tests in Australia and the home series against Sri Lanka. After the ongoing series against the island nations, they will only have a gap of four days before they tour New Zealand. Hence they have decided to experiment in the T20 version as this format does not have any major tournaments in the near future.

What next?

The selectors have identified the players who hold the key in the near future and hence have gone for a rotation policy, as they want their gun players to be fit for the key tournaments which include the upcoming Champions Trophy. Also, they would want to carry on their stellar run in Test cricket, as they won their previous two series against Australia and Sri Lanka.

Also with the IPL coming up, the senior players who be getting no rest, and hence the selectors believed that a call had to be made.

Sportskeeda’s Take

This opportunity allows the South African team to identify new players and helps in building a pool of players going ahead, particularly at a time when a large number of players are signing Kolpak deals.

With new faces coming in, it gives an opportunity to the selectors and the management to identify key performers who can serve South Africa for a long time to come.

South Africa T20 squad: Farhaan Behardien (capt), Theunis de Bruyn, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heino Kuhn, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Jon-Jon Smuts