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Proteas call up Bavuma, Rabada for Windies series

IN THE MIX: The Lions Temba Bavuma Photo: Louis Botha/Gallo Images
IN THE MIX: The Lions Temba Bavuma Photo: Louis Botha/Gallo Images

TEMBA Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada were the new faces in the SA squad named yesterday for the Test series against West Indies, while Stiaan van Zyl should at last get the chance to show why he deserves selection.

"We have been very pleased with the way the Test squad has performed in its last three outings in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe," a Cricket South Africa release quoted selection convenor Andrew Hudson as saying.

"Part of this has been the result of consistency in the selection process and also establishing a pecking order. Van Zyl was the reserve batsman against Zimbabwe [in August] so he is the logical choice to replace [JP] Duminy [who will miss at least the first Test with a knee injury].

"Both Temba and Kagiso have impressed at franchise and SA A level and they are ready to be considered for senior international duty."

The West Indians are unlikely to make testing opponents, so the series presents a good opportunity to blood new talent without fear of too much mental bruising.

And while David Miller's supporters will be unhappy that he is not in the mix - justifiably so - and Aaron Phangiso might wonder what he has done wrong, not often do people as conservative as selectors venture this far out of the box.

But what makes Van Zyl, the Cobras' No3, more suited to batting at No7 than opening in place of the under-performing Alviro Petersen could spark a long discussion around a braai fire.

Rabada has two T20s of international experience, gained on SA's recent tour to Australia, to his name. Though he is a long shot to play against the Windies, just having him around a Test dressing room will be no bad thing.

Bavuma is not having the best of seasons so far, having scored 90 runs - 84 of them in one trip to the crease - in four first-class innings for his franchise, but his 11 first-class innings for SA A have yielded 380 runs at an average of 42.22.