Surprises in Proteas T20 World Cup squad as Stubbs out, Smith in

Tristan Stubbs was surprisingly omitted from the Proteas T20 World Cup squad named on Friday.

The 25-year-old, part of the team that finished as runners-up at the 2024 tournament, has been a mainstay in the T20 side since making his debut against India in 2022. But in the last 12 months, he’s been increasingly on the margins, not only in the T20 team but the other formats too.

He’s been moved up and down the batting order in the Test side and was left out of the ODI side’s most recent series in India.

Stubbs, who averages 27.40 and batted at a strike rate of 132.15 in 42 T20Is, was named captain of the Sunrisers Eastern Cape before the start of this SA20 season. He fetched the highest bid at the inaugural SA20 auction worth R9.2m and he’s a regular in the Indian Premier League where he’s been retained for this year’s tournament by the Delhi Capitals.

Instead of Stubbs the Proteas selectors have called up Tony de Zorzi and, shockingly, Jason Smith. The latter has played just two T20 Internationals, the last against Namibia, a match the Proteas lost.

Smith played four matches for the Dolphins in the T20 Challenge earlier this season, making two half-centuries including an unbeaten 68 off 19 balls against the Titans. He started the SA20 by scoring 41 off 14 balls for MI Cape Town in their defeat to Durban Super Giants.

Smith was part of the South Africa under-19 side that won the World Cup in 2014, but unlike that team’s most famous graduates, Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada, his professional journey has been much bumpier.

He was quickly called into the Western Province team after that World Cup but struggled to make the transition to the senior level and battled with his self-belief.

He decided to move to the Dolphins, where, out of the spotlight, he gradually became more confident and focused on his batting, having hoped to make it as an all-rounder after starring in that role at junior level.

De Zorzi’s arc is a remarkable one. From losing his spot in the Test side at the start of last year, he made runs against Pakistan as a replacement for Temba Bavuma and impressed the coaching staff enough that they included him for the T20s against Pakistan and then in the ODIs against India. Without delivering knockout blows, De Zorzi’s proficiency, creativity and strength against spin counted in his favour.

After missing the India tour with a rib injury picked up before the first Test, Rabada was also included in the squad along with Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi and Kwena Maphaka. That pace battery will be further supplemented by all-rounders Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch, while Keshav Maharaj and George Linde will bear the spinning load, with assistance from skipper Markram.

Even in Stubbs’ absence, the middle order contains some prodigious power led by Dewald Brevis and backed by veteran David Miller and the crafty Donovan Ferreira.

South Africa face Afghanistan, Canada, New Zealand and the UAE in Group D of the tournament. They play their opening fixture against the Canadians in Ahmedabad on February 9.

The World Cup in India and Sri Lanka runs from February 7 to March 8.

Proteas T20 World Cup squad

Aiden Markram (capt), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Jason Smith.

TimesLIVE