Gerald Coetzee Ruled Out; Here's South Africa's Best Playing XI For 2nd Test Vs India
Gerald Coetzee joined SA's injured players list (Twitter)
South Africa were dealt another major blow heading into the second and final Test of the series against India as pacer Gerald Coetzee joined the team's injury list headed by regular skipper Temba Bavuma, both of whom will be missing the New Year's Test in Cape Town from January 3.
The Proteas were set to take the field without Bavuma at the Newlands once the captain and middle-order veteran was sidelined with a hamstring strain. They are now also forced to bench Coetzee after developing pelvic inflammation during his bowling duties in the first Test in Centurion.
As confirmed by Cricket South Africa (CSA), Coetzee experienced discomfort in his pelvis earlier in the Test match, which only got worse by the time the one-sided fixture concluded with an innings & 32-run victory for the hosts.
South Africa's Probable XI For Cape Town Test
Coetzee, who has played 4 T20Is and 14 ODIs for South Africa, was bowling in only his third Test for the country. The excruciating pain experienced during the fixture curtailed the bowler's wings and hurt his execution as he delivered poor spells of 1/74 and 0/28.
The 23-year-old spirited pacer has now been ruled out of the following Test with his pelvis injury, confirmed head coach Shukri Conrad, who said the bowler has been released from the squad without any replacement named.
Conrad hinted experienced pacer Lungi Ngidi could be back after attaining full recovery from a heel injury, which had notably forced him to skip the entire limited-overs leg of the keenly followed India series.
The Coetzee-Ngidi swap will not be the only direct replacement evident in the Proteas' expected line-up for the Newlands Test as comeback man Zubayr Hamza takes Bavuma's place in the batting unit. Hamza, who has played 6 Tests for South Africa, makes a return on the back of consistent domestic first-class performances.
In Bavuma's absence, stoic opener Dean Elgar will be captaining the side in his last Test match for South Africa. Elgar, the former skipper, had stood as skipper for his injured successor in the back half of the Boxing Day Test win.
South Africa's Probable Playing XI
Dean Elgar (C), Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger
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