A forced change has jolted the South African cricket team badly as its star pacer Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala have been ruled out of the upcoming ODI World Cup in India. Cricket South Africa (CSA) took to 'X' formerly Twitter to make the announcement and also informed that the duo will be replaced by the pace-bowling allrounders Andile Phehlukwayo and Lizaad Williams.
While Phehlukwayo has featured in the ODI World Cup for the Proteas before when he was a part of the team during the 2019 edition, for Williams it will be a first-ever experience.
Who is Lizaad Williams?
Lizaad Williams is a right-arm pace bowling allrounder from South Africa.
Aged 29, Lizaad has already represented South Africa in all the three formats of the game. The Vredenburg-born made his Test debut against Bangladesh at the Kingsmead, Durban in March 2022 and has played two Tests thus far. His solitary ODI game came against Ireland in Dublin (Malahide) on July 16, 2021.
The bowling allrounder has mostly played T20Is for the rainbow nation i.e. nine matches after making his T20I debut versus Pakistan on April 10, 2021 at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. In the domestic circuit he has played for Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 and also for Cape Cobras and Boland.
South Africa's white-ball coach Rob Walters feels that Lizaad "offers great skills" and will have an opportunity to shine at the global stage once the World Cup gets underway on October 5 in India.
"This provides an opportunity for Andile and Lizaad on the global stage. Both players have been part of our winter programs as well as having represented South Africa in the recent white-ball tour against Australia. They offer great skill sets and we're excited to have them complete the 15-player squad for this year's World Cup," said Walter.
