South Africa name fresh face to lead them in Tests against New Zealand

South Africa named a second-string squad to tour New Zealand for the Test series and have an uncapped player as their captain. South Africa have gone with Neil Brand as their captain for the tour, who is yet to make his Test debut. In fact, the African side will be going to New Zealand with only 3 players who are currently in the series against India.

The likes of David Bedingham, Keegan Petersen, and Duanne Olivier are in the squad. South Africa has recalled some other players like Dane Piedt and Khaya Zondo who have some experience of playing for the side in the past. It is interesting that Proteas have selected a young squad for the series against NZ with only a smaller number of experienced players in their squad.

Brand has a good reputation in first-class cricket. The youngster has played 51 matches in FC level and scored 2906 runs at a batting average of 39.27. The Southpaw has also claimed 74 wickets as a bowler. The brave choice of SA to name Brand the captain and lead a squad of not-so-experienced players has not gone well with the fans, who have criticized the move of the selectors.

Shukri Conrad speaks about the South African squad

Following the new announcement, Shukri Conrad spoke about the outfit. The South African coach congratulated all the players who have had an opportunity to represent the side at the highest level in the longest format of the game. Conrad felt that the unknown faces possessed the skill sets to challenge New Zealand in their own backyard. Shukri said that he has full confidence in the players.

Shukri confirmed that the players are selected based on their performance for South Africa A. “Most of these guys participated in the recent ‘A’ series against West Indies where they showed that they have what it takes against players of international calibre. That experience will no doubt leave them in a better position for what we expect to be a testing series in New Zealand,” said Shukri Conrad.