Fresh-faced Proteas wary of formidable Afghanistan as they look to keep unbeaten record alive

Aiden Markram of South Africa during the third T20I match against West Indies at Brian Lara Stadium on 27 August 2024 in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo: Daniel Prentice / Gallo Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

17 Sep 2024

A much-changed Proteas outfit will be looking to get back to winning ways after a nine-month ODI drought.

The Proteas face Afghanistan in the first of three one-day international fixtures tomorrow at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates.

A lot has been said about the off-field conundrum of playing against Afghanistan, nonetheless, the Proteas will face the subcontinent side in a bilateral series for the first time .

Afghanistan and South Africa have met five times before – twice in ODIs and three times in T20Is – and on all of those occasions, during various World Cups, South Africa have come out on top.

The Afghani side, who only received full member International Cricket Council (ICC) status in 2017, have beaten every Test-playing nation in white-ball cricket except India and South Africa.

Rashid Khan of Afghanistan bowls during the ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup on 20 June 2024 in Bridgetown, Barbados. (Photo: Philip Brown / Getty Images)

For this reason, the Afghani’s cannot be underestimated, according to Proteas quick Lungi Ngidi.

“The opinion of a cricket team is purely based on what people think, (but) it’s not always the truth,” a philosophical Ngidi said to the media on Monday.

“Anyone’s opinion on what Afghanistan might play like, that doesn’t affect us because we’ve seen what they can do against other international teams.

“We’re not taking this series lightly. They have world-class cricketers and match winners, and on their day they can beat the best in the world.

“We’ve seen it happen, so I don’t think anyone should be looking at them as minnows. We definitely know what we’re in for.”

A welcome return

It’s the first time the Proteas will be in action in the format since going down 2-1 to India at home in December last year — nine months ago. Their previous ODI match before that was the Cricket World Cup semi-final against Australia where the side went down by three wickets.

But for the Proteas, it’s a chance to return to winning ways in a format in which the team looks nearly unbeatable when at full strength.

“The guys will be trying to get back to their best in terms of this format,” Ngidi said. “It is probably one of our best formats as well, so there’s a lot of excitement around the camp.”

However, South Africa, as with several other tours in the past few months – outside of World Cups – are not at full strength.

Gerald Coetzee, Marco Jansen, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock (retired), Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj all played in the semi-final against Australia, but are not part of the squad to take on Afghanistan.

Aiden Markram of South Africa during the third T20I match against West Indies at Brian Lara Stadium on 27 August 2024 in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo: Daniel Prentice / Gallo Images)

Only ODI skipper Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram are there, with several other fringe players looking to make a statement in the format with the one eye on making the squad for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next year.

“All of us are hoping to play,” Ngidi said. “We know that there are a couple of things coming up, like the Champions Trophy.

“Players obviously want to put up their hands for selection, the young guns coming in want to gain some experience, and then the guys who have been playing want to get some game time — it’s been a long time since we’ve played ODI cricket.”

Senior man

With so many fresh and inexperienced faces in the squad, Ngidi will lead the attack as a senior statesman.

“I wouldn’t say it’s anything new,” he said about setting the tone for the other bowlers. “I’ve played in a lot of teams around the world and sometimes you slot in there as a senior, being an international, so the role is not anything different to me.

“The only thing you can say is that the other guys aren’t here, but then again it’s not up to me or anyone else but the coach.

“If they’re being rested, they’re being rested. Whoever’s there at the time has to step into the role.

“It’s not anything I haven’t done before. Coming into the (Proteas) side, I used to open the bowling with Dale Steyn.

“I’m looking forward to helping the guys now, sharing the information and knowledge that I have… we still have a job to do and we’ll do that as well as possible.”

For Afghanistan, Rashid Khan has returned from an injury that kept him out of a one-off Test against New Zealand, which was rained out without a ball being bowled. DM

The first ball will be bowled at 2pm on 18 September at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates

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South Africa

A welcome return

Senior man