PROTEAS PACK BETWAY SA20 PUNCH FOR INDIA T20I SERIES

Betway SA20 superstars Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Keshav Maharaj are all set to return to the Proteas Men’s team for the blockbuster four-match T20I series against T20 world champions India starting next week. 

It is the first time the Proteas will be facing India since the epic T20 World Cup final in Barbados earlier this year. 

Klaasen, Miller and Maharaj have not played any white-ball cricket for the Proteas since the fateful day at the Kensington Oval with the trio opting to recharge by playing in various franchise leagues such as Major League Cricket in the US, Caribbean Premier League and the T20 Challenge back home. 

Durban’s Super Giants captain Maharaj has also played Test cricket in both the West Indies and Bangladesh respectively. 

Fellow Betway SA20 stars Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee will also make their return to the international arena after undergoing extensive rehabilitation and conditioning programmes.

Jansen, who was the leading Betway SA20 wicket-taker in Season 2 with 20 scalps for back-to-back champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape, will be eager to take the new ball in the absence of MI Cape Town’s Kagiso Rabada and Paarl Royals’ Lungi Ngidi. 

Rabada has been rested, while Ngidi has also now been placed on a conditioning programme. 

JSK’s Coetzee, meanwhile, is also back in the national side for the first time since picking up a side strain while playing MLC in the US.

The are joined by the youthful talent of Sunrisers Eastern Cape allrounder Andile Simelane, who earns his selection due to being one of the leading wicket-takers in the T20 Challenge, Paarl Royals’ Nqaba Peter, Lutho Sipamla and the uncapped Mihlali Mpongwana.

“It’s both an exciting and important series for us as we continue to build towards the T20 World Cup in 2026. The squad has a nice mix of youth and experience, and I am looking forward to seeing us deliver some quality performances against a very attacking Indian T20 outfit,” Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter said. 

 “We continue to drive our broader priorities of exposing our high-potential players to quality opposition as we look to widen our base of internationally ready players, whilst at the same time understanding that our main objectives as always are to play a brand of cricket that excites our supporters and wins games of cricket for South Africa.”

Kingsmead Stadium will host the first match of the series on Friday, 8 November, before the two sides head to Gqeberha for the second match at St George’s Park on Sunday, 10 November.

The series then moves to the Highveld, with the third match taking place in Centurion on Wednesday, 13 November, and wraps up at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday, 15 November.

Proteas T20I squad against India

Aiden Markram (captain, Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Ottneil Baartman (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Gerald Coetzee (Joburg Super Kings), Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings), Reeza Hendricks (MI Cape Town), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Heinrich Klaasen (Durban’s Super Giants), Patrick Kruger (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Keshav Maharaj (Durban’s Super Giants), David Miller (Paarl Royals), Mihlali Mpongwana,  Nqaba Peter (Paarl Royals), Ryan Rickelton (MI Cape Town), Andile Simelane (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Lutho Sipamla, Tristan Stubbs (Sunrisers Eastern Cape).

*Images from ICC/Getty Images