South Africa are facing a plethora of injuries in their camp ahead of the crucial two-match Test series against India at home starting from December 26. Their lead fast bowler Kagiso Rabada is suffering from a bruised heel and hasn't featured for the Lions in their first-class match against the Dolphins at Kingsmead that started on Thursday (December 14). For the same reason, Rabada had bowled only six overs in the World Cup semifinal but doesn't seem to have recovered yet from injury.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, even the South Africa management isn't ready to disclose anything as they responded to Rabada's fitness question as, "(he) will undergo further assessments." Rabada's injury puts the Proteas in more trouble as Lungi Ngidi is also in doubt right now having missed the ongoing T20I series due to a sprained ankle. Moreover, Anrich Nortje is also on the sidelines with a lumberstress fracture since September 10.
If Ngidi doesn't recover in time, South Africa might end up fielding Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee as their lead pacers with Wiaan Mulder and Nandre Burger also in the squad announced for the Test series. This certainly cuts short the experience in the bowling attack with Jansen picking 44 and Coetzee accounting for only 11 wickets so far in their Test career. The number is significantly less compared to the trio of Rabada, Ngidi and Nortje who have collectively picked 401 wickets in 96 Tests.
Meanwhile, India too are struggling with ankle injury to Mohammed Shami who was their top bowler in the World Cup 2023 picking up most wickets. According to sources, he is yet to regain full fitness but the visitors have fully fit Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah in their line-up. Moreover, Prasidh Krishna seems ready to replace Shami if the latter doesn't recover in time.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Prasidh Krishna.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne
