Johannesburg: South African all-rounder Chris Morris has returned to the squad for their upcoming three-match ODI series and one-off T20 international against Australia.
The 31-year-old was sidelined from the recently-concluded series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe due to an injury.
Making the team announcement, Cricket South Africa (CSA) National Selection Panel (NSP) convener Linda Zondi said that Morris has confirmed his fitness by giving an “excellent” performance in the domestic circuit.
“Chris confirmed his fitness with his excellent form for the Titans in the first two rounds of the 4-Day Domestic Series. He is the leading wicket-taker in this competition to date and also adds value as a batting option in the lower-order,” sport24 quoted Zondi, as saying.
Speaking about South Africa’s vision for 2019 World Cup, Zondi said that the recently-concluded Zimbabwe series was a big plus for the team as their strike bowlers Imran Tahir and Dale Steyn returned to their very best.
He further expressed confidence that the team is on the right path as far as World Cup is concerned.
“We feel that we got quite a lot out of the Zimbabwe series, notably the form of Imran Tahir and the return of Dale Steyn to his very best. Heinrich Klaasen took his chances well both with bat and behind the stumps and the same applies to a lesser extent to Reeza Hendricks in a series in which batting was not easy,” he said.
“We are confident that our Vision 2019 strategy for the ICC World Cup is progressing along the right lines,” he added.
Following is the full South Africa squad for the Australia tour:
Faf du Plessis (captain), Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungisani Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]