South Africa will be without fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for this month's ODI series against England.
Rabada has been sidelined by a hip injury. He was ruled out of this week's final T20I – and isn't available for the three ODIs.
“The injury is expected to take approximately three weeks to heal. The player will be released from the squad to begin recovery, rehabilitation and preparation for the Test series against Sri Lanka, beginning on 26 December 2020,” read a statement from Cricket South Africa.
Rabada was with the Delhi Daredevils during the 2020 Indian Premier League. His 30 wickets were the most in the tournament, ahead of Mumbai Indians fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah's 27.
The first ODI will be played at Newlands in Cape Town on 4 December. The Proteas lost the preceding T20I series three-nil.
Boucher Laments Struggles
“England are a step ahead of, not only us, but quite a few different teams in world cricket,” said Proteas head coach Mark Boucher after heavy defeat in the third and final T20I at Newlands.
“We've got a way to go. If you look at this England team, when they got together probably in around 2017, they were also asking a lot of questions of themselves trying to find a balance that was going to suit their style of play.”
Pretorius and Phehlukwayo Not Available
The hosts are without injured all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius. Fellow all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo is also unavailable.
“We didn't have all-rounders due to various reasons so we lacked a sixth bowler. You can't hide behind that. Sometimes in T20 cricket, you've got a bowler who goes,” added Boucher.
“And most teams, especially a team like England, tend to fancy a particular bowler on one night and you need a bit of cover for that individual, and we haven't been able to do that.”
England won the World Cup in the United Kingdom in 2019, beating New Zealand in the final. The English also won the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
“These guys have won a World Cup and are oozing with confidence. Their players are a lot more developed than what our players are. Our job is to get our guys in our team feeling what these guys are,” concluded Boucher.
