South African renowned spinner Keshav Maharaj has been ruled out for the remainder of the T20I series against England with his groin injury, and Bjorn Fortuin has been named as his replacement.
South Africa is having their best run in white-ball cricket in 2025. They have dominated the mighty Aussies on Australian soil, winning an ODI series after a 35-year-long drought and then went on to claim their victory in the English ODI series on English soil, breaking another jinx of 27 years.
They also set their hands on their first proper ICC title with the win in the 2025 ICC World Test Championship. However, they were the winners of the first-ever ICC Knockout Trophy back in 1998, a tournament that later transformed into the ICC Champions Trophy.
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Keshav Maharaj’s replacement announced for England T20s
After a terrific victory for South Africa in the opening T20I against England, the South African spinner Keshav Maharaj has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series. He has possibly tweaked his groin during the warm-up of the first match and hence missed the starting fixture at Cardiff.
Keshav Maharaj has been crowned as the no. 1 bowler for ODIs and was also named as the player of the series in their 50-over leg of the tour. However, Keshav Maharaj has now been withdrawn from the remaining T20s and Bjorn Fortuin has been announced as his replacement is the other two games.
Fortuin will be making his return for South Africa in the shortest format of the game after a gap of almost 2 years. Since the last match he played was seemingly back in 2023.
Lungi Ngidi and David Miller are other names in the long list of injured Proteas
Lungi Ngidi, the pacer, has also been ruled out of the series with a right hamstring strain. The pacer has been of great aid for South Africa, especially in the absence of greats like Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen.
Ngidi returned home last Thursday and is looking forward to being fit ahead of South Africa’s next assignment—that is, their start of the title defence in the ICC World Test Championship against Pakistan from the 12th of October. Nadre Burger has been named as the pacer’s replacement.
Lastly, David Miller, the most experienced cricketer in the Protea side, had also withdrawn from the squad following a hamstring pull during the final week of the Hundred. However, no replacements were announced for the great batter.
Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen return from their injuries
Though Keshav Maharaj, as well as Lungi Ngidi, have been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 matches, the Proteas have had some good signs in this series as well. Kagiso Rabada, the veteran South African pacer and all-rounder Marco Jansen have marked their return to the T20I side.
Rabada recovered from his ankle inflammation and has played the Cardiff T20I. Jansen has missed matches since the ICC WTC final due to thumb surgery. They both played for South Africa in the 1st T20 international.
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