Sidelining in-form Dolly is a luxury Bafana can't afford

As Keagan Dolly thundered in Mamelodi Sundowns' opener in their CAF Champions League match against AC Leopards last weekend, I couldn't help but wonder how Shakes Mashaba could afford to leave him out of his latest Bafana Bafana squad.

Perhaps Mashaba doesn't understand the enormity that faces him in back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Cameroon this month.

Let's try and help him: If Bafana lose to the Indomitable Lions next Saturday, that's it, they can't qualify for next year's Nations Cup in Gabon.

For Bafana to stand a chance, they need a minimum of four points from the ties against Cameroon, who top Group M after winning their opening two games.

Given this difficult task, SA can do with any kind of help to ensure they amass sufficient points to at least be in a position to qualify as one of two best runners-up.

Basically, the situation has become all too desperate, mainly thanks to Bafana's failure to win either of their first two games against Gambia and Mauritania.

Yet Mashaba, in naming a 25-man squad last week, could find no slot for one of the best players in the domestic league this season, Dolly. The reason is that Dolly will lead the national under-23s to Brazil for a friendly, just about the same time that Bafana will be in camp next week.

Last year when Mashaba was constantly ignoring Dolly - he handed him his only senior cap against Sudan in 2014 - the excuse was that he needed to help the under-23s qualify for the Rio Olympics, which kick off in August.

Thankfully, that mission has been accomplished.

But now there's no logical basis for leaving out easily the best player of this season behind Khama Billiat.

For Dolly to be sent to Brazil for a junior friendly, when the nation can do with his trickery, power and goal-scoring skills against the formidable Cameroon is scandalous. For Mashaba to tell us he selected players with "big match temperament", when Dolly is not part of that squad, is almost treasonous. Even by his headstrong standards, Mashaba's omission of Dolly is quite a shock. But it's not too late to knock some sense into him.

His Safa employers should tell him to drop one of the many under-performing bench-warmers in his squad and include Dolly. And no, this won't amount to "interference". It would simply be an act of telling the coach to apply common sense for the sake of the nation. Patriotism should surpass his ego.

Safa has done it before, removing Mashaba from his role as head coach for the high-profile 2003 friendly against England, after he had similarly picked some confused squad.

This time, we are not faced with a friendly - we have two key qualifiers from which we need at least one win.

I'm not saying Dolly's mere presence would guarantee victory. There are many other capable players who Mashaba has called up, such as Hlompho Kekana and Prince Nxumalo.

But going into such crucial matches without one of the form players of this season is self-defeating. It's a luxury we cannot afford, and Mashaba's obstinacy should not be allowed to rob the country of at least having a fighting chance.