Cricket
"David Miller is Still Committed to Playing for South Africa," says Proteas coach Rob Walter.
Proteas coach Rob Walter reaffirms David Miller’s commitment to South Africa despite senior player uncertainties. Uncapped players and veterans form the squad for the upcoming T20I series against India. Cricket betting fans have plenty to look forward to as they gauge how the team will fare against such a strong opponent.
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Proteas limited-overs coach, Rob Walter, has emphasised that veteran David Miller is still committed to play for the country amid the many uncertainties that are surrounding many of the senior players including star batter Quinton de Kock.
David Miller Included for India T20Is
At the moment, some of the Proteas household names including Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and recently Tabraiz Shamsi are without national contracts, having opted out in different stages.
This has left Walter with a conundrum ahead of the upcoming four-match T20I series against India here in South Africa next month.
With the players having opted out of national contracts so as to have a more flexible schedule to play in the lucrative T20 leagues around the world, Walter now needs to time his selections according to the players' availability and the importance of the white ball series’.
As a result, Walter has named a T20I squad without this trio and has instead gone for a side with two uncapped players in all-rounders Mihlali Mpongwana and Andile Simelane.
Also, the coach has called back seamer Lutho Sipamla who has not played T20I cricket in three years while youngster Donovan Ferreira comes back into the team having been dropped for last month's tour of the UAE.
However, one veteran in David Miller has been included in the T20I squad alongside Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj and captain Aiden Markram.
Walter says Miller is still committed to play for South Africa and believes that the 35 year-old will be physically in shape to be available for the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup which is currently the main focus for Walter and co.
"Dave is certainly still committed to playing for South Africa. We haven't had any conversations around him not (being committed). For him it is about management as well and what his playing load is looking like (T20 leagues). I know he has his sights set on each year and playing for South Africa which he publicly said he loves doing," Walter told SportsBoom.com.
"So, I wouldn't look so far ahead as 2027 but certainly I believe that physically he is in in a space to play in 2026. If that changes along the way, then we'll start to change how we manage that position in the team. We've already had guys playing throughout the winter in T20 cricket in that position
So, we are building our resources around the fact that we understand that Dave is coming to an end whether that end is in a year or two years that ball will be in his court. As long as his performances continue the way they have then he'll be included where necessary
Rob Walter
Where is Dewald Brevis?
While Walter has experimented with many new players in the tours of the Caribbean in May and July and the UAE in September, Dewald Brevis has missed out on every one of them.
Having earned his maiden international call up a year ago and played only two games where he had very little returns, Brevis hasn't being a part of the Proteas set ups since then.
Apart from the Test call-up that the youngster received for the ongoing tour of Bangladesh, the 21-year-old has been left out time and again.
Now, this comes as a shock to many as Brevis was deemed the country's next big thing after dominating the ICC Men's Under 19 World Cup in the West Indies a couple of years ago before going on to earn his maiden Indian Premier League contract in the same year.
Walter explained that Brevis has just not done enough with his opportunities and that the other youngsters have simply out-performed him.
The Proteas limited-overs coach further added that the 21-year-old is still in the broader plans of the team and that he will be a part of the team in the near future.
"From a T20 point of view, the guys that have been given opportunities have just performed better than he (Brevis) has, but we know what he's capable of. We've got a lot of good youngsters who are capable of really good stuff in the short format," said Walter.
"Dewald is part of the wider group of players. As I said before we are continually searching for more fixtures for South Africa to ensure that we can give guys lots of opportunities. We always have an eye on him. He's always part of the conversation.”
"We can't give opportunities to everyone, so we are certainly trying our best to get that balance right. He will get his opportunity again; I have no doubt about that."
Proteas Squad for India Series
Aiden Markram (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Patrick Kruger, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla (3rd and 4th T20Is), and Tristan Stubbs.
India Squad travelling to South Africa
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
Ongama Gcwabe is an experienced Sports Journalist based in South Africa. In his career, Ongama’s work has been published in the country’s biggest newspapers company, Independe Newspapers, and some of the leading news and sports websites including IOL Sport.