South Africa will go into Tuesday’s opening one-day international in Faisalabad without Dewald Brevis. The 22-year-old has picked up what team medics describe as a low-grade strain to the small muscles around his right shoulder, an injury sustained while diving in the third T20 in Lahore on Saturday.
For the moment no replacement has been called up. Brevis will stay with the touring party, begin rehabilitation immediately and, if recovery goes to plan, should be fit for the multi-format trip to India later this month.
A stop-start start
Brevis has featured in every match on this tour – two Tests and three T20s – but runs have not flowed. His top score is 54, compiled in the second Test innings at the Gaddafi Stadium, and his fledgling ODI record shows 110 runs in six outings, with a best of 49. Even so, faith in his ability remains strong. As Temba Bavuma put it in a recent column, “[Brevis] can kind of make a bad wicket a good one because that is the talent of the boy.”
Squad stretched
The injury further trims a travelling group already light on experience. Senior multi-format players such as Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada were rested for the limited-overs leg, while fast bowlers Kwena Maphaka and Anrich Nortje are also unavailable. Matthew Breetzke, only a debutant earlier this year, continues as stand-in captain and is likely to lean heavily on Quinton de Kock, who is playing 50-over cricket again after reversing retirement.
Series context
Pakistan edged the T20s 2-1 after the Test series was shared. The three ODIs, all scheduled for Faisalabad, mark the first men’s internationals at the venue since 2008 and represent South Africa’s final white-ball assignment before the two-Test series in India, which starts on 14 November.
What next for Brevis?
Shoulder strains of this nature rarely keep players out for more than a fortnight, but South Africa’s support staff will not rush a batter earmarked for a busy southern-hemisphere summer. The decision to keep him with the squad suggests confidence in a swift recovery and the value of his presence in a young dressing-room.
For now, plans have been redrawn, and a top-order spot is vacant. South Africa’s depth will be tested again – not ideal, but hardly unfamiliar terrain for a side in transition.
