Selectors’ decision to axe Behardien puzzling

There may be 16 months to go until the next World Cup, but the fact that South Africa only has 29 ODIs left before they take another dip at the one achievement in cricket that has always eluded them means their attention is already being focused on the showpiece tournament in England.

Thirteen of those ODIs are against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, however, so the Proteas are going to have to rely on a five-match ODI series in Australia in November and at home against Pakistan in December in order to get a true measure of their readiness.

Coach Ottis Gibson has stated that it is his intention to cast the net as widely as possible before then to make as informed a decision as possible on who should go to the World Cup.

So it is in the light of that that the shock decision to drop Farhaan Berhardien, who is surely once again going to be in contention for the Momentum One-Day Cup Player-of-the-Year award, should be seen.

Although Behardien has proven himself to be the best finisher in domestic white-ball cricket and is in tremendous form, the decision to leave him out for the first three ODIs is not inherently wrong if the intention, as stated by selectors chief Linda Zondi, is to increase the pool of players who can perform that role in the high stakes arena of international cricket.

But the problem is who they have chosen to replace Behardien.

Khaya Zondo is undoubtedly one of the better batsmen in the domestic game and he has done

Ken Borland

reasonably well for the SA A side, but he has not come close to enjoying the levels of success Behardien has had in the unique situations limited-overs cricket provides for middle-order batsmen.

While Zondo’s average is healthy, his strike-rate this season is just 65 and, in overall List A cricket, where 39 of his 112 games have been at semi-pro level, it is 74. Behardien has a strike-rate of 98 in ODIs, at an average of 31.

Zondo’s credentials would seem to be better suited to the Test side; he is averaging over 50 this season in four-day cricket and topped the Sunfoil Series batting averages last season with 740 runs at 67.27, nearly 10 clear of Theunis de Bruyn (57.76).

Putting aside those concerns though, now that Zondo has been chosen, I sincerely hope he is given a decent run of games in which to present his case and confirm whether the selectors’ hunch is justified. If he does not get to play, if his inclusion is a window-dressing exercise to get him to “learn the culture” of the team, then Cricket South Africa could have an explosive situation on their hands.

Zondo has been in the national squad before, touring India in 2015, but he failed to get a game, setting off a storm of protest that included letters from the Black Cricketers in Unity group complaining about being perpetual drinks carriers on tour.

I’m sure Zondo can bat with great industry in the middle-order, but can he provide the same sort of big finish as the two batsmen who have performed that role for the Proteas in recent years – David Miller and Behardien?

The batting otherwise has a settled look and Gibson has a decent bunch of bowling options to choose from.

Wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has been magnificent with the white ball this season and will hopefully get to share duties with Imran Tahir, while there are two bowling all-rounders in the squad in Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo who have both played match-winning innings with the bat for the Proteas.