Former captain Faf du Plessis will not play for South Africa in a three-match one-day international series against Australia but remains part of the country’s future plans, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Wednesday.
Du Plessis, who stepped down from the captaincy in all forms of the game earlier this month, is being rested along with recent regular players in Rassie van der Dussen and Dwaine Pretorius.
The first match in the series will be in Paarl on Saturday, following the conclusion of a T20 series.
Test left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has been rewarded for good form in a domestic one-day tournament with his first one-day international call-up since 2018.
Coach Mark Boucher said the squad was picked with an eye to the future with the next World Cup still three years away.
“We always saw the series against England and Australia as an opportunity to play some fresh talent,” said Boucher. “If we feel that we need to rest players, we will, as we have done in the recent past. Faf (du Plessis) has been fantastic for us in white-ball cricket and remains very much in our ODI plans and we will manage his workload for the near future diligently.”
The squad includes batsman Janneman Malan and wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne, who were both included in the squad for a recent series against England but did not play. Malan has previously been capped at T20 level while Verreynne is uncapped.
Richardson in Aus team
Sydney: Pace bowler Jhye Richardson was added to the Australia ODI squad for three clashes in South Africa.
Selectors also named an unchanged line-up for the one-day series against New Zealand at home next month. Richardson dislocated his shoulder ahead of last year’s World Cup in England but was recalled for T20 series against South Africa and will remain with the team for the one-dayers.
“He has slotted back into the T20 squad in South Africa and is pushing for a place in that side,” national selector Trevor Hohns said of Richardson.
“Keeping him in South Africa with the one-day squad gives us another exceptional fast bowler who is ready to go.”
Australia face New Zealand in the first of three ODIs in Sydney on March 13.