Morne Morkel ruled out of second game against Bangladesh

South Africa’s premier bowler Morne Morkel has been ruled out of second game against Bangladesh. Morkel will miss the second and final game of the series after suffering from a side strain in the first match at Potchefstroom.

The 32-year old is all set to miss the one day and T20 series against Bangladesh. He will not take part in the opening phase of the inaugural T20 Global League that will begin from 3^rd November. Morkel is all set to represent Pretoria Mavericks in the competition. South Africa will be pleased that ace batsman AB de Villiers is all set to return to play for South Africa across three formats and will be a part of squad for the home Test series against India. He will play alongside JP Duminy and is included in the South Africa Invitational side that is scheduled to play a warm-up game against Bangladesh prior to the start of the one-day series.

De Villiers will also play all the first-class games in the coming months to fully prepare himself for the upcoming home series against India. He has not played Test cricket since 2016 but has been consistently playing limited overs cricket for the side. South Africa Invitational XI will also feature promising talents like Aiden Markram, Willem Mulder, Khaya Zondo and Reeza Hendricks.

Uncapped fast bowler Dane Paterson is named replacement for Morkel for the second game of the series against Bangladesh. He will operate as fast-change bowler as Duanne Olivier and Kagiso Rabada will be the new-ball pair for the game. Andile Phehlukwayo will be the fourth seamer for South Africa as he is genuine all-rounder included in the setup for the contest. Parnell did not feature in any of the first class games and might sit on the sidelines to see Paterson make his debut for the second game at Bloemfontein.

Morkel’s injury is big setback for South Africa as the side is already missing their two premier bowlers in Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander. Steyn has not yet played a first class game since November 2016 and might play in the inaugural T20 Global League depending on his recovery from shoulder injury. Philander suffered from back spasms in fourth game of the Test series played against England in England. He will return to competitive cricket in the month of October while Chris Morris also might be fit in time for the inaugural T20 Global League.

South Africa Test Captain Faf du Plessis clearly stated that he has not seen many of the fast bowlers playing in the domestic circuit at the moment. He said that they are a lot of promising quick bowlers in South Africa but it all depends on the type of conditions and opposition they play in Test cricket.

Many names have been in spotlight such as Beuran Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius and Willem Mulder as South Africa may require their services as they are all set to play eight Test matches in their home season. The side will play one-off test against Zimbabwe followed by three-match series against India. Then it will be followed by four-match series against Australia.

South Africa may need a pool of resources in the bowling department as they will play a lot of cricket at home featuring top sides like India and Australia this season.