David Miller and Lungi Ngidi have joined South Africa’s ever-lengthening injury list just a fortnight out from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean, and the timing could hardly be worse.
Miller tweaked his groin on Monday while patrolling the deep for Paarl Royals in their last SA20 group fixture. He never made it to the crease – Royals were already sinking in a futile chase of 167 against Joburg Super Kings – and the defeat nudged them down to third, so it’s the Eliminator for them in Centurion on Thursday.
The left-hander has travelled north with the squad. A late fitness call will decide if he plays, and, by extension, whether the national management can relax even slightly. One official put it bluntly: “We’ll know when he tries a quick single in the warm-up.”
Ngidi’s issue surfaced 24 hours later. Pretoria Capitals strapped his left thigh heavily before Qualifier 1 against Sunrisers Eastern Cape. He still took the new ball, but two overs in he headed for the sheds. Bowling coach Shaun Pollock, speaking to the host broadcaster, played it down: “He just wants to loosen the strapping.” Even so, Capitals finished the night a bowler short and so did South Africa, in all probability.
Those two knocks come on top of Donovan Ferreira’s fractured shoulder – the all-rounder is almost certainly out of the World Cup – and Tony de Zorzi’s lingering hamstring pull. De Zorzi last batted in anger in India in December; he is pencilled in for the three T20s against West Indies next week, though nobody is betting the house on it.
Selectors meet on Thursday to name that West Indies squad. Logic says they’ll dip into the franchises already eliminated from the SA20, so Durban’s Super Giants and MI Cape Town players are on standby. Ryan Rickelton, fresh off a mountain of runs, is the obvious batting cover if De Zorzi doesn’t come through. Tristan Stubbs and Ottniel Baartman remain first in line should Ferreira or Ngidi fail fitness tests, but both are still involved in the SA20 play-offs, complicating matters.
Administrative cut-off dates add another layer. Wholesale changes to the preliminary World Cup squad are permitted until 31 January; after that, any swap needs the ICC’s Event Technical Committee to sign it off as a “tournament-ending injury”. South Africa would rather not push the paperwork that far, yet the medics may leave them no choice.
For now, the camp mantra is simple: treat, rest, reassess – then cross fingers that nothing else goes pop.
