Cape Town — The drizzle may be coming down at Lord’s but the sun seems to be shining on the Proteas with captain Dean Elgar all but confirming that Kagiso Rabada will be ready to take his place in the starting XI for the first Test against England on Wednesday.
Rabada has been a doubtful starter since injuring his ankle during the preceding T20 International series against England, which ruled him out of the subsequent Ireland T20I series and the warm-up game against the England Lions last week.
But although Elgar was hesitant to confirm the full line-up that will take the field at the home of cricket, the Proteas skipper was confident that Rabada would return to play his first Test since February in Christchurch.
“KG has done really well the last few days. I think he is very close to being fully-fit. It’s looking pretty good for us,” Elgar told the media at Lord’s on Tuesday.
“He will have a bowl in the indoor nets if need be. If he has to do something today, and I’m sure they will push him, but if they feel that he doesn't have to do extra work, then you will most probably see him in the final XI.”
Rabada’s presence is integral to the Proteas’ chances in the series opener. Not only have the Proteas already lost the experience of Duanne Olivier before a ball has been bowled in anger due to a hip flexor injury, but the talismanic Rabada has led the way in Proteas' Test resurgence over the past 12 months.
The 27-year-old has claimed 43 wickets in his last eight Tests at 19.34, including seven in a game against India and eight in a match against New Zealand, to help the Proteas wrap up series wins against West Indies and India and draw away to Test world champions New Zealand.
Furthermore, he has persistently been England’s nemesis with 52 wickets in his nine Tests at an average of 25.80 — including his career-best figures of 7/112 in an innings and 13/144 in the same match at Centurion in 2016.
Rabada will most likely be joined by fellow fast bowlers Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi to form a potent Proteas seam attack.
The selection of the batting unit is, however, not a foregone conclusion. Vice-captain Temba Bavuma’s absence due to an elbow injury has opened up a shoot-out between Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton and Khaya Zondo in the middle-order.
Van der Dussen and Markram did, of course, not play in the final Test series of the home summer against Bangladesh after choosing to fulfil their Indian Premier League commitments — in the same manner as Rabada, Nortje and Ngidi.
This opened the door for Rickelton to make his Test debut and although the 26-year-old did not score a bucketful of runs against the Tigers, there was enough potential in his 114 runs in four innings at an average of 38 to suggest that the Lions batter may have a promising international future ahead of him.
Zondo also made his Test debut as a concussion substitute in the second Test against St George’s Park, but did not have the opportunity to bat. He did, however, post a promising 86 in the first innings against the English Lions.
The conundrum, however, remains whether to offer Markram another chance at Test level. The 27-year-old would most likely have been dropped for the Bangladesh series had he not chosen to go to the IPL, but it seems captain Elgar may once again be pushing for him to be recalled, along with Van der Dussen, at Lord’s.
“We have lost that experience factor (Bavuma) in the middle-order,” he said. “I am therefore inclined to go with the experience we have in our batting unit.
“We obviously have the option of Markram, Van der Dussen, Rickelton and Zondo. It is obviously up to the coaches, and the selectors to finalise our top five. But coming from my side, I am leaning towards the experience factor.”
England have, meanwhile, rubber-stamped their final XI for Wednesday with captain Ben Stokes returning for Sam Billings, as expected.
TEAMS FOR LORD’S
England: Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes (wk), Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Matthew Potts, James Anderson.
South Africa (likely): Dean Elgar (capt), Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje.
IOL Sport