Will Zondo finally be filling Rassie’s shoes?
Playing Khaya Zondo is the big question for Proteas’ selectors
● As selectors meet to discuss the composition of the South African team for the third and final Test match against England at the Oval on Thursday, the Khaya Zondo elephant will be sitting in the room, looming large.
The Proteas take on England in this decisive match in London with the series delicately sitting on 1-1 and the focus is firmly on who is going to replace injured middle order batter Rassie van der Dussen.
Van der Dussen has returned home to nurse a fracture on his left index finger sustained while fielding during the innings and 85-run defeat in the second Test at Old Trafford last week. His unavailability has presented a poser for the selectors as they decide who will be a more suitable replacement between reserve batters Zondo and Ryan Rickelton.
When deciding, the selectors — led by Victor Mpitsang and coach Mark Boucher — will have to consider government transformation imperatives and strongly consider giving Zondo his long overdue opportunity to start a Test match.
Zondo has made one Test appearance for the Proteas but he came on as a Covid substitute for Sarel Erwee on day four of the second Test against Bangladesh in Gqeberha.
In that match earlier this year, Rickelton was preferred ahead of Zondo in the starting line-up but he did not get a chance to bat. He was overlooked for a starting place in the first of two matches against Bangladesh in Durban when Aiden Markram and Van der Dussen were at the IPL and Rickelton was handed his debut.
At the time, it was argued in some quarters that the selectors and Boucher missed an opportunity to pick Zondo at his home venue for a less pressured match against Bangladesh.
Those matches against Bangladesh in Durban and Gqeberha remain Rickelton’s two outings for the Proteas and may put him in an advantageous position when the selectors decide who is going to replace Van der Dussen.
Thursday’s match is a must-win and the selectors may revert to a team similar to the one that won the first Test with the only two changes being Rickelton or Zondo in for Van der Dussen and Marco Jansen replacing Simon Harmer.
This means SA will bat deep with a lineup that includes Dean Elgar, Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Markram, Rickelton or Zondo, Jansen, Kyle Verreynne and Keshav Maharaj.
The responsibility of taking 20 wickets will be on the shoulders of premier fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi — with Maharaj offering the slow-arm option.
If they go with Rickelton, who has scored 114 in four Test innings, ahead of Zondo, that move is going to be scrutinised as it will not be for the first time the Dolphins batter is overlooked.
People will remember the 2015 incident in which he was left out of the team to face India on the ODI series. Dean Elgar was slotted into the starting XI to replace JP Duminy in Mumbai despite Zondo being the back-up batter in the squad and this happened allegedly at the insistence of then captain AB de Villiers.
The fact that this is a must-win game is understandable and Rickelton has faced international balls before, unlike Zondo, but we would not be here if the selectors did the sensible thing and picked the Dolphins batter against Bangladesh.
Let’s not forget that Aaron Phangiso did not play a single game at the 2014 T20 World Cup or the 2015 ODI World Cup, and it won’t look good if Zondo returns from this series with no game time.
Cricket South Africa board chairperson Lawson Naidoo could not be drawn to comment on the issue. “It is a matter for the selection panel to determine the composition of the team for the match — the board does not get involved with selection matters,” he said.
“This is the responsibility that has been allocated to the selection panel. Ultimately, they are accountable and we don’t interfere in that process.”
Former Proteas opener Alviro Petersen said it depended on what the selectors thought would get the runs in a pressured match. “It’s a must-win game and they have to get in the guys who they feel can get the runs. It really depends on what the selectors are thinking.
“It is difficult to answer from the outside. I haven’t been too involved to know who plays well under pressure and stuff like that.”