Proteas call up exciting rookie Qeshile for T20s

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Sunday named Titans batsman Aiden Markram and the Warriors duo of fast bowler Anrich Nortje and wicketkeeper-batsman Sine Qeshile as new caps in the Proteas’ squad for the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka which starts next week.

Markram and Nortje are in the squad for all three matches while the 20-year-old Qeshile has been selected for the second and third matches only.

“The first match forms part of our vision 2019 to continue exploring our options for the World Cup,” said CSA’s national selection convener Linda Zondi, “and the squad for that match consists largely of the squads that have been doing duty in the Momentum ODI Series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We would have liked to include Hashim Amla but unfortunately he remains unavailable because of his family situation.

“We have used our T20 International matches in the past as the first port of call to widen the pool of talent. This has resulted in Rassie van der Dussen, Gihahn Cloete, Janneman Malan and Lutho Sipamla being brought through the pipeline with considerable success during the course of the current season.

“Sine Qeshile has had an outstanding rookie season of franchise cricket and is certainly one of the form batsmen in franchise cricket at the moment. He looks a really exciting prospect.

“JP Duminy will take over the captaincy for the last two matches while we give a short break to Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi who are involved across all three formats for the Proteas,” said Zondi.

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