Beuran Hendricks has been called up to replace Migael Pretorius in the Proteas squad ahead of Saturday’s New Year’s Test against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers.
Pretorius suffered a shoulder injury while in the bio-bubble and was released from South Africa’s camp, with Hendricks coming back in after he too was released from the squad before the first Test.
Hendricks, alongside Keegan Petersen, were the two players left out of the squad after Cricket South Africa announced that two Proteas tested positive for Covid-19 before the start of the series.
But the 30-year-old left-arm seamer is back now, and along with Kagiso Rabada, who was called up earlier this week, will give coach Mark Boucher more options as South Africa look to wrap up the series 2-0 after winning by an innings and 45 runs in the first Test at Centurion Park.
Whether Boucher will make use of his options remains a mystery.
Of possibly bringing back Rabada, he says: “We don’t know if KG is back yet, he’s been out of it for quite some time.
“So yes, because he is Kagiso Rabada you want to play him, but you’ve got to manage his load.
“We’ll see where he’s at monitor his progress…”
“But he’s got to get his workloads up so he doesn’t go into a Test match where there’s a high risk of him getting injured.
“We won’t be doing only him, but ourselves, an injustice.”
Hendricks and Rabada will challenge fellow seamers Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Lutho Sipamla and allrounder Wiaan Mulder as well as spinner Keshav Maharaj for their places in the bowling attack.