South Africa cricket coach, Ottis Gibson, on Monday said he will be without Hashim Amla for his side's limited-overs tour of Australia next month.
“Hashim is injured [finger injury], he is out of the squad already, as a selection group we have already discussed that with him. We want to give him as much time as possible for him to get ready for the next set of cricket that he has coming up," said Gibson.
South Africa will play three One-Day Internationals and one T20 International next month against hosts Australia.
“We want to win,” Gibson said of the series. “We want to go there with an attitude of trying to win. The squad that we pick will reflect that and reflect our feeling on the formula and the way we want to play cricket. There is a lot being said about being positive, we played that way in the first few games in Sri Lanka. The key is having the will to stick with it even when things get tough.
“For the last 12 months we have been looking at players,” he added. “In the next couple of months the window is closing, the players have been told that the window is closing all the time. We are getting closer and closer to the guys that we want on the journey. In the Pakistan and Sri Lanka series we want to be focusing on a core of 17 to 18 players we will be looking at.”
The comeback performances from the experienced duo of Imran Tahir and Dale Steyn were the standout highlights in the series against Zimbabwe for the coach.
“[Kagiso] Rabada and [Lungi] Ngidi have done very well,” he said. “We have given Tahir time off to allow us to see other players and he has come back and shown us why he is our number one. He has come back and bowled really well, he is mentoring Shamsi which is good for Shamsi, we have high hopes for him.
“I know what Rabada and Ngidi can do but for me the real excitement was watching Dale Steyn bowling in the second game in Bloemfontein. It was fantastic to see him back to that level again, bowling quickly with that skill and accuracy. That is the real exciting part for me.”
The squad for the three-match ODI and one-off T20I tour to Australia will be announced on Thursday and will depart on Tuesday, October 23.