South Africa spearhead Dale Steyn will unfortunately be sidelined for the remainder of the India vs South Africa Test series after he damaged a tissue in his left heel during day two of the first Test at Newlands Cape Town. Cricket South Africa have added two fast bowlers as Steyn's replacement. Pacers Duanne Oliver and Lungi Ngidi will be present in the SA squad for the second Test at the Centurion which will begin from January 13.
Oliver made his Test debut in 2016-17 and has played five Tests against Sri Lanka, England and Bangladesh.
Ngidi is yet to make his Test or ODI debut, but has played 3 T20Is.
Despite Steyn's absence in the bowling unit on day four, the Proteas spearheads ripped past the Indian line-up to win the first Test by 72 runs. Day three was called-off due to a rain being a spoilsport but the action was doubled on the fourth day as 18 wickets were taken at Newlands.
Steyn said that he will take time to recover and believes that he will be up and running in six weeks.
"I'm on the crutches because I've got a no-weight bearing on my leg for a while, at least two weeks. It's right on the heel, extremely sore to stand on. Have to give it the time to recover. Will be up and running in six weeks. That ball, I came a little bit wide on the crease. Landed on the side of the foothole. Don't know, must have slipped on it a little bit. Went back to the top of my mark. Tried to run, and I was like, no this isn't happening. A little tear came up on the MRI. Not ideal, have had a whole year off already. I was feeling good, was enjoying it actually," said Steyn.
The Virat Kohli led Team India didn't stand a chance after spinner R Ashwin's dismissal where he bravely managed to make 37 runs. Kohli went out for 28 this time whereas consistent Cheteshwar Pujara was sent packing back after scoring just four runs.
South Africa squad for 2nd Test: Faf du Plessis (c), Deal Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyne, Quinton de Kock (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Duanne Oliver, Lungi Ngidi.
(With PTI Inputs)
