A mix of veteran brilliance and the relatively unknown! South Africa make some surprise additions to their squad for the T20 World Cup! Henrich Klaasen, Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen and of course captain Aiden Markram headline what is an incredible South African starting XI but will their depth help them carry the load? Get the inside scoop on South Africa's Cricket Squad for the upcoming GameDay Squad Fantasy Cricket competition with an in-depth analysis and preview. Find out who to watch out for!
Squad
Average is based on all T20 Internationals in the last 12 months.
Gerald Coetzee – Bowler (AVG 45 points)
Marco Jansen – All-Rounder (AVG 49 points)
Quinton de Kock – Wicket-Keeper (AVG 5 points)
Keshav Maharaj – Bowler (AVG 34 points)
Aiden Markram – All-rounder (AVG 54 points)
Kagiso Rabada – Bowler (AVG N/A)
Tabraiz Shamsi - Bowler (AVG 27 points)
Reeza Hendricks – Batter (AVG 58 points)
Heinrich Klaasen – Wicket-Keeper (AVG 15 points)
David Miller - Batter (AVG 37 points)
Tristan Stubbs - Wicket-Keeper (AVG 21 points)
Ottniel Baartman – Bowler (AVG 69 points)
Bjorn Fortuin – Bowler (AVG 24 points)
Anrich Nortje – Bowler (AVG N/A)
Ryan Rickelton - Wicket-Keeper (AVG 14 points)
Batters
Two players with exceptional T20I averages and two players with a lot of international cricket experience make up the batters position heading into the T20 World cup!
Reeza Hendricks
David Miller
Opener Reeze Hendricks is particularly important to note as he is expected to continue opening the batting with partner Quinton de Kock through the tournament. We know that openers pose a larger value due to their position coming into the game and that absolutely applies here to Hendricks who will have all the opportunity int he world to make the most of his opening position in this batting line up. However, will you be starting him over the likes of Quinton de Kock or Heinrich Klaasen? It's early but if it came down to it, Hendricks definitely falls beneath those two for me.
Bowlers
Another team with gargantuan depth at the bowler position and have had some of the most devastating bowlers come and go in recent times, but this year the bowling attack is lead by superstar Kagiso Rabada, veterans Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi, a super star in waiting Gerald Coetzee and then two relatively unknowns on the world stage in Ottniel Baartman and Bjorn Fortuin . Expect fireworks as always with this bowling attack!
Gerald Coetzee
Keshav Maharaj
Kagiso Rabada
Tabraiz Shamsi
Ottniel Baartman
Bjorn Fortuin
Anrich Nortje
Kagiso Rabada is the premier and most recognisable bowler within the South Africa bowling attack still and will be a very safe pick to start the T20 World Cup tournament. Rabada has been incredible Through the IND Cricket season so far with 10 wickets and 85 total dot balls! Which ranks him fourth league wide for the statistic! We know what we are going to get from Rabada every time he steps out to the field which is why he is such a great pick for your GameDay Squad… pick him with confidence! The x-factor in this team is young gun Gerald Coetzee who has taken short format cricket by storm as of late! The 23-year-old broke out on the global scene during the ODI World Cup where he lead South Africa for wickets taken (20 wickets), bowling average (19.80), and bowling strike rate (19.05). Coetzee has also continued his good form for the Mumbai Indians! Forming an incredible partnership with the best bowler in the world Jasprit Bumrah. Coetzee could be anything in this tournament and I’m excited to see what he can produce!
All-rounders
Just the two players come into the tournament that have the all-rounder position designation in GDS. Both incredible short format cricketers in Marco Jansen and captain Aiden Markram.
Marco Jansen
Aiden Markram
Very excited to see what Marco Jansen can produce in this World Cup for South Africa! The 23-year-old has shown so much promise on the world stage to date, as shown with his performances at the ODI World Cup. Jansen notched up 17 wickets and had a high score of 75 with the bat. His ability to impact the game in all facets meant he averaged 91.7 GDS fantasy points through the tournament and because of that, he will be a very popular pick!
Wicket Keeper
When we are looking at Wicket-Keepers at the T20 World Cup for your GameDay Squad, look no further than South Africa! You won't find a more damaging duo than Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen...
Quinton de Kock
Heinrich Klaasen
Tristan Stubbs
Ryan Rickelton
I have said it before and I’ll say it again… I truly believe that Heinrich Klaasen is the best and most damaging batsman in all of short form cricket right now! Recent form suggests as much also! Klaasen finished the SA20 with an average of 40.63 runs per innings at an eye-watering strike rate of 207.9! A performance good enough to label Klaasen the player of the tournament. Klaasen has carried his form into the IND Cricket season, averaging 42.14 runs per inning with a league leading 28 sixes hit at the time of writing. Klaasen will always be the first player picked in my GameDay Squad whenever South Africa play. Quinton de Kock is another who will be very popular and for good reason! South Africa’s first choice gloveman has been one of the most damaging batsman in all three formats of the game for some time now and there doesn’t seem to be any evidence to suggest that will change any time soon. Recently de Kock enjoyed an incredible ODI World Cup for South Africa where he finished as the third highest run scorer (594 runs) tournament wide at an average of 59.40 runs per innings! View de Kock as a must start, especially early in the tournament!
Predicted Starting XI
1. Quinton de Kock
2. Reeza Hendricks
3. Aiden Markram
4. Heinrich Klaasen
5. David Miller
6. Tristan Stubbs
7. Marco Jansen
8. Kagiso Rabada
9. Keshav Maharaj
10. Gerald Coetzee
11. Tabraiz Shamsi
