Wiaan Mulder: Proteas debutants can put pressure on regulars
All-rounder Wiaan Mulder said the five uncapped players in the Proteas squad for the two-Test series in Zimbabwe are eager to prove they deserve their call-up.
The Proteas face Zimbabwe in two Tests in Bulawayo, starting on Saturday and July 6, with several big names missing out.
According to The Citizen, Test captain Temba Bavuma is out due to the hamstring injury he picked up in the World Test Championship final victory two weeks ago, while Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs have been rested.
Recently injured fast bowlers Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee and Lizaad Williams were not considered for selection. Lungi Ngidi will join the squad for the second Test.
Five Proteas debutants?
Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Lesego Senokwane, Codi Yusuf, Dewald Brevis and Prenelan Subrayen are set to make their debuts. There is also a recall for Zubayr Hamza.
Mulder, who mustered scores of six and 27 and took one wicket during the Test final, described it as a 'new squad'.
'There are a lot of guys here who want to prove a point: Why they are here, how well they have played over the last couple of domestic seasons to get here,' he said.
On that note, 19-year-old Pretorius has played just six first-class matches but made an immediate impact with three centuries in his first five games, including one in the CSA 4-Day Series final. He boasts an average of 65.57 in the format.
Likewise, Brevis followed up a good SA20 run with a decent IPL. In the longer format, he was the second-leading run-scorer in the 4-Day Series, with 573 runs in 12 innings, including two hundreds and two fifties, averaging 47.75.
Senokwane and Hamza were the fourth- and fifth-leading run scorers in the 4-Day Series. Subrayen and Yusuf were the second- and sixth-leading wicket takers.
OPINION: Mind-boggling Proteas are resting players for Zim Tests
Debutants to put pressure on established Proteas
'We compete at every practice, and I'm pretty sure when we get into that Test match, the guys who are going to fill the spot for… take someone like Ricks [Ryan Rickelton] or Marco [Jansen], are going to put them under pressure when they come back,' Mulder added.
'That's the exciting part about having such a talented group here in Zim.'
He said the Proteas have had conversations around their identity, that whoever plays is still ''the best team at the time and we look at ourselves as world champions'.
'Everybody has that in the back of their minds. We are training like we are the best in the world, not like we are trying to become something new.'
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